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56th Congress, ) SENATE. j Report 

1st /Session. j ( No. 516. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



February 28, 1900. — Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Mason, from the Committee on Manufactures, submitted the 

following 

REPORT. 

[To accompany S. Res. 447, Fifty-fifth Congress.] 

Under the following resolution: 

Whereas it is and has been for years publicly charged that in the manufacture of 
articles of food and drink many manufacturers of the United States, who transport 
their goods from one State to anotiier, do most grossly adulterate such products, to 
the serious detriment of the public health and to the defrauding of purchasers: 
Therefore, 

Resolved, That the Committee on Manufactures of the Senate is hereby authorized 
and directed to investigate and ascertain what, if any, manufacturers are adulterating 
food and drink products, and which, if any, of said products are frauds upon the 
purchasers. 

Your committee beg leave to report that after the passage of said 
resolution they began taking evidence under the same, and have pro- 
ceeded from time to time in dilierent cities of the United States, 
which evidence has been dul}^ reported and printed for the use of the 
Senate. 

The committee can not emphasize too strongly tlxe importance of 
this investigation and proposed legislation. The adulteration of pre- 
pared or manufactured foods is very extensively practiced and in many 
case.s to the great discredit of our manufacturers. It is only fair to 
say, however, that a large proportion of the American manufacturers 
who are engaged in adulterating food products do so in order to meet 
competition, and it is the expression of those gentlemen to say, ''" We 
would be glad to get out of the lousiness of adulterating. We would 
like to quit putting this stuff in coffee, and would be willing to brand 
our sirups for what they are, but our competitors get a trade advan- 
tage which we can not surrender." 

It is the purpose of this commif^ee to adopt this uniform rule: To 
prohibit the sale of deleterious and unhealthy food products, and as to 
those food products which are simply cheapened by adulterants, to 
compel the marking of those goods for what they are. An examina- 
tion of the resolution shows that these are the two objects to be sought: 
To ascertain what food products are dangerous to public health, and, 
second, what products are sold in fraud to the consumer. The com- 
mittee has adopted the rule above stated, for the reason that it feels 



II ADULTERATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS 






that deleterious food products should be prohibited and the rest thor- 
oughly regulated. 

There have ])een two general wa\'s suggested as to the matter of 
regulation. First, to put the important food products under the 
internal-revenue law, as we have in the case of l)utter, tilled cheese, 
and, at the last Congress, flour. This committee recommended to 
the Congress in its last session the passage of the pure-flour bill, which 
was adopted. It was made ostensibly a revenue bill, which brought 
it within the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
although as a revenue producer it will not be regarded as a great 
success. But it is a fact that it has absolutely prohibited the sale of 
adulterated flour, which was found to Ije in man}^ cases dangerous to 
public health, and a further important fact that it increased the sale 
of American flour probably 25 per cent in other countries, and for 
proof of this we most earnestly beg attention to the letters, pages 8 
to 11, printed in the evidence of the tirst witness, from the leading 
cities of the world, which show the increased demand for American 
flour as soon as Congress compelled that it should bo sold for what it 
was. So it will be observed that if the rule estalflished by this com- 
mittee can be carried out as to our food products we will not only 
protect the consumer and the honest manufacturer who is willing to 
sell his goods for what they are, but we will also establish a reputa- 
tion for our food products which will assist us to find a ready market 
for them in other countries. 

The other plan to regulate the food products does not put it at all 
in the Internal-Revenue Department, but is contained in Senate bill 
2126, which establishes a department under the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture, and provides for the establishment of a board w^hich shall carry 
out the part of the rule estal)lished by this conmiittee and fix the 
standards for foods, drinks, and for drugs based on the American 
Pharmacopceia. The strong argument in favor of this plan is the fact 
that it would Ije cumbersome to take all the small articles of food 
products that are now adulterated and allow their sophistication or 
adulteration for the purposes of cheapening, and require a stamp 
upon each of the small packages ofl'ered for sale. 

To illustrate: The evidence before the committee shows that all our 
peppers, cinnamon, cloves, and spices generalh^ including ginger and 
mustard, are adulterated. One manufacturer testified that "he adul- 
terated these largely wnth cocoanut shells, and that the amount of 
adulterants put in depended upon the man who ordered it. Sometimes 
as high as 60 per cent was put in." It would be difficult, it may be seen 
at a glance, to establish a law for spices, to compel them to stamp as 
mixed spice every package sold. It may be that such cumbersome 
legislation will have to be made in order to properly punish those who 
adulterate their goods; but it is hoped that Senate bill 2126 will reach 
all interstate traffic in manufactured food products, and that the board 
established under the bill will have power to fix standards based upon 
what is now the standard in the American Pharmacopojia. 

In the case of butter, cheese, and flour the frauds practiced were so 
apparent and dealt so with the most important food products that the 
revenue plan seemed to be, and is, wise and successful, and it may 
become necessary', if the real purpose of this bill meets with opposition 
and defeat, wise and prudent for this committee to have prepared 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. Ill 

and ready i-cvenue legislation to reach some of the most o-Uiring evils 
by adding it to the next revenue bill. 

" In the prosecution of this investigation we have had many difficul- 
ties to overcome, and the committee feels that in many cases they 
have not been able to secure the absolute truth. The conmiittee feels 
under great obligation to Secretary Wilson, of the Agricultural De- 
partment, who has rendered us all service within his power and who 
has a deep and substantial interest in the public welfare in the matter 
of the adulteration of food products. The conuuittee feels a special 
debt to the Secretary on account of the services of Dr. H. W. Wiley, 
the chief chemist of the Agricultural Department. Dr. Wiley has 
made more experiments upon these subjects and has proba])ly analyzed 
more food products than any other chemist of our country, and a care- 
ful reading of his evidence will convince the reader of his marked 
ability and unselfish enthusiasm in the cause of pure food, and if the 
reader will go further and see the horrible stuff that is sold to the 
poor people, who must ))uy the cheapest food products, the poisons 
that go, in some neighborhoods, into the so-called "soda-water" 
glasses, the cheap poisonous stuff's that are sold for fruit jams and 
jellies in the poor quarters, and the thousand frauds practiced in the 
sale of foods upon the ignorant, poor, and sick and upon the children 
of the country the committee feels that the reader will join, in some 
degree at least, in the enthusiasm of Dr. Wiley.* 
Take, for example, 

CONDENSED MILK. 

The evidence taken before the committee conclusively shows that the 
great condensed milk factories of this country furnish a pure and 
healthful food product. A statement was made b}" a witness that 
skimmed milk was sold in that way. The committee has visited some 
of the great factories and observed the process, simple, clean, and 
healthful, and the great bulk of the condensed milk of the country is 
a perfect human food. A general manager of one of the largest con- 
cerns in the country explained fully his process, and testified further 
that he had personal knowledge of the w"ay«his competitors condensed 
their milk, and he testitied that they all used practically the same 
process. Yet the fact remains that the gentlemen owning the great 
condensing factories are obliged to spend a large share of their time 
preventing the sale of adulterated condensed milk. This they are 
obliged to do in defense of their own trade, and this is, in our opinion, 
what the Congress of the United States ought to do to defend the 
honest manufacturer and the consumer. 

SUGAR. 

The committee has analyzed different samples of sugars bought in 
different cities, and have examined the chemists and manufacturers in 
the large factories owned by the sugar trust. The analysis agrees 
with the evidence of the manufacturers, and at the present time sugar 
made in this country is, in the opinion of the committee, free from 
adulterants. The bill which we reconmiend, however, will enable the 
Department to fix a standard for sugar which must be reached and will 



IV ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

be useful in the future to keep the present standard of sugar, if the 
temptation of hig-h sugar and cheap adulterants should change the 
present standard. 

SIRUPS. 

The evidence given before the conniiittee by the manufacturers of 
sirup is entirely verified by the analysis. Most of the sirup makers 
expressed their willingness to brand their sirup for what it is, provid- 
ing their competitors will do the same. The conunittee has had before 
it scores of samples, and in almost no case was the sirup marked for 
what it really was. We have had as high as four grades of maple 
sirup, all branded "'' Maple Sirup""" and containing all the way from :20 
to 80 per cent of glucose. The evidence is clear that glucose is a 
healthy product, and when properly made, the experts testified, "is 
as healthy as cane sugar."" It is also used in the adulteration of 

HONEY. • 

The committee has had samples of jars of honey holding 2 quarts 
of what was marked "Honey,"" with about one ounce of floating 
honey comb on the top of the jar, and the rest glucose. The purpose 
of the committee is, that the consumer, paying for honey, should 
receive it, and that the honest manufacturer of hone}^, who sells his 
goods for what they are, should not be compelled to compete with 
artificial goods sold for real. 

EXTRACTS. 

One of the dilficulties the committee has to contend with is to get 
manufacturers to disclose fully to the committee the ingredients of 
their goods. The evidence of Dr. Wiley and other chemists shows 
the great frauds practiced in the manufacture of extracts. The com- 
mittee has been taking evidence nearly a year, and the principal owner 
of an extract company in Chicago, 111., is the onh^ representative of 
extracts that has invited the committee and its chemists "'to go through 
his factory from top to boltom,"" that they might see and know every 
article used bv him in making extracts. The committee preferred to 
adopt the same rule. l)y buying samples in the open market, and the evi- 
dence of Dr. Wiley shows that his goods are genuine and what they pre- 
tend to be. The committee would not mention this specific fact except 
from a sense of justice, and also to call attention to the evidence as 
relates to extracts generally and the great and growing need of hav- 
ing a given standard. If the reader will take time to examine the evi- 
dence of Dr. Wiley and a dozen other practical chemists, and see the 
substances that are used for fruit and vanilla extracts, the necessity 
for the pending legislation will be most apparent. 

BAKING POWDER. 

In view of the very general use of baking powder in the household 
economy and its consequent importance, entering as it does into the 
daily diet of young and old, the vigorous and enfeebled, of all classes 
and conditions of societ}^ your committee approached the investiga- 
tion of the subject with a great deal of care, determined, if possible, 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. V 

to gather such facts as would justify it in arriving at a conclusion that 
would satisfy the public mind and settle at once and forever whether 
fruit acid from the grape or mineral acid from alum was the proper 
constituent of a baking powder. In this your committee believes it 
has fully succeeded. 

Attached to this report will be found the testimony of eminent scien- 
tiiic men, chemists, physiologists, and doctors of medicine, gentlemen 
of the very highest standing in their several professions, overwhelm- 
ingly condemnatory of the use of alum in the manufacture of baking 
powder and recommending that it be prohibited by law. 

This testimony is of a character that must comuiand the confidence 
and respect of those whose ainrand o))ject it is to get at the truth and 
who seek to promote the pu])lic welfare by conserving the public 
health. 

While your committee recognizes the existence of a general repug- 
nance to what is termed sumptuary legislation, and while it still further 
recognizes the consideration due to private rights as represented by 
the capital invested in the manufacture of alum baking powders, j^et 
it conceives there is still a higher duty due from the State to its citi- 
zens in protecting them against an article or articles distinctly delete- 
rious to the pu]>lic health. It was with this ultimate object in view 
that your committee was authorized to make the searching investiga- 
tion in which it has been engaged for the past twelve months, and 
covering a wide range of subjects, and it would feel that its time was 
worse than wasted if it were not prepared to make specific recom- 
mendations based upon the evidence which it has taken, where such 
evidence is conclusive. Therefore, so far as the use of alum in the 
manufacture of a food product, such as baking powder, is concerned, 
the committee, in view of the overwhelming mass of evidence antag- 
onistic to its use, recommends that its use in food products and baking 
powders be prohibited by law. 

BEERS, ALES, AND PORTERS. 

One of the most important subjects under consideration has been 
that of the great American brewing industry. The committee has, 
through its agents, visited 9:^ breweries in 19 cities and purchased 
nearly 400 samples of their products in open market, and, under the 
evidence of the Government analytical chemists who analyzed said 
samples, we find but 2 samples of American beer, ale, and porter 
containing preservatives. 

While the imported beers do not rank as high as American beers, a 
much larger per cent of the imported beer samples analyzed were 
found to contain preservatives. 

Two very important questions present themselves to the committee 
in consideration of beers. 

First, as to whether there be a national standard fixed for beers, 
fixing the minimum amount of malt extract to be contained in the 
beer product. 

Second, whether we should adopt in this countr}^ the law which 
prevails in some parts of the German Empire, which provides that 
beer should be made of barley, malt, and hops exclusively, or whether 
the American brewer should be permitted to use in conjunction with 
malt and hops other cereals, such as corn and rice. 



VI ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The present methods pursued b,y the American brewer are the same 
as contained in the English law, governino- their brewing industries. 
As a rule, the American brewers make many different kinds of beer in 
the same brewery. The American taste for beer varies from that of 
other countries and the tastes in locality also vary. Some require a 
light beer, as more pleasant to the eye as well as taste, while others 
desire a much darker grade of beer. 

When the American brewer uses other cereals than barley, they are 
used in an unmalted state — that 4s, corn or rice — which gives a lighter 
color to the beer. It has l)een charged in a general, unsubstanted way, 
by either a witness or through a communication, that these cereals did 
not produce as healthy a beer as an all-malt Ijeer. But the overwhelm- 
ing and almost uncontradicted evidence is that the use of corn or rice, 
for the purposes as stated, is not in the least deleterious to public health, 
and while the practical brewer, maltsters, chemists, and analytical 
experts, as well as medical experts, approve the use of the unmalted 
cereals for the purposes as stated, whenever interrogated on that point, 
no witness has stated before this committee why the use of corn or rice 
unmalted, or other uimialted cereals, ought not to he used as it is all 
over the world. 

Mr. Gladstone, speaking in the English Parliament upon this ques- 
tion, said: 

The brewer will brew from what he pleases, and will have a perfect choice of his 
material and of his methods. I am of the opinion that it is of enormous advantage 
to the community to liberate an industry so large as this with regard to the choice of 
those materials. 

The British parliamentary commission investigated this suliject for 
four years, and the following is taken from their report, sustaining 
the bill, which was passed upon the motion of ]Mr. Gladstone years 
before, which gave the free malting privileges to the brewer : 

It can not be admitted that the liquor made from malt, hops, yeast, and water, only, 
has an exclusive right to the name of beer, or that the jiurchaser who demands beer 
demands an all-malt liquor. Sugar was intermittently permitted to be used in beer a 
century ago; for over fifty years its use has been continuously permitted by acts of 
Parliament, and eighteen years ago complete freedom in the use of all wholesome 
materials was deliberately granted to brewers by Parliament. 

We also call attention to the following, taken from the English 
report: 

The question as to the relative merits of different brewing materials can not be 
unconditionally settled with the data at present available, but the balance of experi- 
ence and authority inclines to the view that while an all-malt l>rewing from a blend 
of ma,lt inade from the best P]nglish and foreign barley is still the best for some 
descriptions of beer (pale ])itter ale, for example) , yet, for other descriptions, which 
constitute by far the larger proportion of the beer consumed, the medium or lower 
qualities of British barley malt (and our barley malt is not any better; that is, the 
average barley malt) are used. The medium 'or lower qualities of British barley 
malt are improved as brewing materials by the addition of a moderate proportion 
of good Ijrewing sugar, and this is esp*?cially the case when the barley from which 
the malt is made has been imperfectly ripened or harvested under unfavorable con- 
ditions. 

The committee, then, is of the opinion that the present system in 
America is fairest and more nearly just to the manufacturer and 
consumer to permit the l)rewer to be the judge himself of what whole- 
some and healthy products he desires to put into his beer; and the 
bill, which we will finally present to Congress, will prevent the use of 
any unwholesome preservatives or deleterious substances. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. VII 

Much public concern has been excited because it has been charged 
that the American brewer uses a large amount of salicylic or other 
acids to preserve the beers. 

The expert evidence before this committee is clear that a small 
amount of preservative is not dangerous, while the evidence and anal- 
vsisof samples show that a very small amount of preservatives are 
used, and that by very few of the brewers, who use it in minutely 
small quantities to preserve bottled beer for export only. And the 
evidence is overwhehiiing that nearh" ever}" brewer and every bottler 
of beer in this country submits his bottled beer to the pasteurizing 
processes, which is simply submitting it to such an extreme heat in the 
bottle as to destroy germ life and prevent fermentation. 

The levenues derived from the great beer industry alone are 
$71,000,()0(), a double war tax. The value of monej^ invested is 
$650,00U,()(>(>, and the industry gives employmeut to 1>00,*)00 men. 

In the language of Mr. Gladstone, this committee feel that we 
should ""liberate as to choice of material and as to process of manufac- 
turing an industry of so vast a scope as is this particular industry."" 

As to the other question, of fixing a standard of beer, ales, and por- 
ter — that is, by tixing the minimum amount of alcohol, malt extract, 
etc. — ever}' witness before this committee testified in favor of tixing 
said standard. 

Mr. Gallus Thomann, secretary of the United States Brewers' Asso- 
ciation, favors such a law, as did every brewer and maltster who 
testitied before this committee. And the committee is of the opinion 
that this may be done imder the authority of tlie bureau that may be 
established in the Agricultural Department by Senate bill 2426, 

Whatever legislation may be passed should he national in its char- 
acter. The brewing industry of this country has grown so extensively 
that the American brewers are selling their products not only in every 
State of the Union, })ut all over the world, and uniformity of standard, 
which is most desirable, can only be o])tained by national legislation. 

OLEOMARGARINE. 

In regard to butterine or oleomargarine, it is not claimed by any of 
the witnesses before your couuuittee that it is in any way deleterious 
to public health. On the contrary, all expert evidence upon this point 
strongly confirms the testimony of the maiuifacturers of this article, 
to the efi'ect that it is a healthful food product. The testimony shows 
that this product is the result of a combination of beef and pork fats, 
butter, cream, and milk with coloring matter, which is similar to that 
universally used by farmers and dairies engaged in the manufacture of 
butter for the coloring of that product. As under the resolution 
under which this couuuittee is operating it is made one of its duties to 
investigate food products and to ascertain what is sold that is deleteri- 
ous to the public health, your committee made every eftort to obtain 
information upon this branch of the subject, and in addition to oral 
testimony there were submitted authorities of an expert character, as 
follows: 

Henry Morton, Stevens Institute Technology, New Jersey: 

.It contains nothing whatever whicli is injurious as an article of diet; but, on the 
contrary, is essentially identical with the best fresh butter. 



VIII • ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

S. C. Caldwell, Chemical Laboratory Cornell University: 

Possesses no qualities whatever that can make it the least degree unwholesome. 

Charles P. Williams, analytical chemist, Philadelphia: 

It is a pure and wholesome article of food, and in this respect, as in respect to its 
chemical composition, is fully the equivalent of the best dairy butter. 

Henry A. Mott, analytical chemist. New York. 

Essentially identical with butter made from cream, and perfectly pure and whole- 
some article. 

J, S. W. Arnold, medical department, University New York. 

A blessing for the public, and in every way a perfectly pure, wholesome, and 
palatable article of food. 

W. O. Atwater, Wesleyan University, Connecticut. 

It is perfectly wholesome and healthy, and has a high and nutritious value. 

Scientific American : 

Oleomargarine is as much a farm product as beef or butter, and is as wholesome as 
either. 

Prof. Charles F. Chandler, New York City : 

The product is palatable and wholesome, and I regard it as a most valuable article 
of food. 

Prof. George F. Barker, University of Pennsylvania : 

It is perfectly wholesome, and is desirable as an article of food. 

It has been claimed by some that the coloring matter alluded to is a 
by-product of coal tar, and that if taken into the human stomach it 
might be dangerous to health; l)ut, upon the evidence taken before 
your committee, there appears to be no foundation for prohibiting its 
use in the manufacture either of butter or oleomargarine. 

As to the right of manufacturers to color their oleomargarine, it 
would appear from the tenor of late decisions in United States and 
States courts that the legislative branch would exceed its power by 
prohibiting the use of such coloring matter in the manufacture of 
either butter or oleomargarine, and in the opinion of your committee 
such legislation would be void, for lack of uniformity were permis- 
sion granted to use coloring matter in one of these products to the 
exclusion of its use in the other. 

There have l)een several recent decisions by the Supreme Court of 
the United States, the most prominent being the case of Schollen- 
berger v. The Commonwealth of Pennsvlvania, in which it is held 
that oleomargarine has been recognized for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury in Europe and the United States as an article of food and com- 
merce, and has been so recognized by acts of Congress. The court 
refers to the act of August '2, 1886 (24 Stat., 209), ''An act defining 
butter, also, imposing a tax upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, 
importation, and exportation of oleomargarine." One description of 
oleomargarine contained in this act includes, "all mixtures and com- 
pounds of tallow, beef fat, suet, lard, lard oil, vegetable oil, annato 
and other coloring matter, intestinal fat, and ofl'al fat made in imita- 
tion of butter." The decision in the Schollenberger case holds, "that 
the manufacture of oleomargarine b}^ the compounding of the ingre- 
dients named in this quotation from the act of August 2, 1886, is 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. IX 

recognized by Congress as being a lawful business and that the oleo- 
margarine so produced is a lawful article of commerce." 

It was claimed by some of the witnesses before 3^our committee 
that the present laws are inadequate to carry out the original intention 
of legislatures, and that under the operation of the various laws reg- 
ulating the manufacture and sale of oleomargarine it is sometimes 
sold to consumers as butter. Some of the witnesses who testitied 
before your connuittee stated ''that having asked for butter there 
were occasions when oleomargarine had been given them instead of 
the former article." The examination of the retailers of oleomarga- 
rine and butter who came before your committee tends to show that 
consumers of these articles know which of these products they are 
purchasing, })ut in many instances do not wish it known that they are 
using oleomargarine, and it is the testimony of manufacturers of 
oleomargarine before your conmiittee that there is no instance of any 
consumer having ever brought action to prosecute dealers for having 
sold them oleomargarine instead of butter. This testimony has not 
been contradicted, nor has any proof of its inaccuracy been oii'ered. 

There has been much evidence and argument before your commit- 
tee as to whether the manufacture of oleomargarine is detrimental to 
the interests of the farmers of the country-. The evidence shows, 
however, that all of the ingredients entering into the composition of 
both butter and oleomargarine are the products of our farms, with 
the possible exception of the coloring matter, the use of which is in- 
finitesimal in both cases. 

The resolution under which this committee was appointed does not 
authorize investigation except: 

First. What food is sold that is deleterious to the public health; and, 

Second. What food is sold in fraud to the consumer. 

The committee finds from the evidence before it that the product 
known commercially as oleomargarine is healthful and nutritious, and 
that no additional legislation is necessary. 

CANDY AND CONFECTIONERY. 

An important article of diet is the candy consumed by the children 
of the country, a natural and proper element of food, which has been 
greatly adulterated, and in the opinion of the committee still is. The 
confectioners who were su])p(jenaed to testify before this committee 
testified that the coloring matter that they used was pure vegetable 
coloring matter, which is proper to use and is used in butter and oleo- 
margarine. Yet the fact remains that large amounts of analine dyes, 
a product of coal tar, are used in the coloring of candy. It is also 
undoubtedly true that to some extent terra al]:)a is used. This would 
fall under the rule adopted by the committee, and ought to be, in the 
opinion of the committee, absolutely prohibited, and it is also thought 
that the bill reconnnended by the committee will enable the Govern- 
ment to prosecute and convict those engaged in this business. The 
honest manufacturer of confectionery and the consumer of it will 
favor such a bill. Those engaged in the adulterating business ought 
not to be consulted as to their wishes. 



X ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

WINES. 

A large amount of evidence has been taken in regard to wines and 
liquors, and it may become necessary to have a separate ])ill as to this 
article. It is thought, however, by the committee that the Govern- 
ment will have sufficient power under the bill recommended to compel 
the proper branding of the wines so that the consumer may know with 
a reasonable certainty what he is purchasing. The manufacturers of 
champagne in this country have complained bitterly that the American 
product is ])eing injured by the sale of artiiiciall}^ charged wine which 
is being sold as champagne. Champagne originally meant wine that 
came from the champagne districts of France. It is contended by the 
manufacturers of American champagne that the trade word "'Cham- 
pagne'" means any wine fermented in the bottle. A large class of 
American manufacturers, however, are engaged in car])onating still 
wine artificially by the injection of carbonic acid gas, and that wine 
is also sold in the market as champagne. 

The tests made by the experts show that the American champagne 
which is fermented in the bottle excels in practically every point the 
imported champagnes which are also fermented in the bottle, and, 
under the evidence of uninterested witnesses, it is clear to the com- 
mittee that champagne fermented in the bottle is superior in anal3^sis 
and very much more expensive to the producer than the wine which 
is artificially carbonated. For the purpose of ])ringing this c|uestion 
within the rule adopted by the committee it is not necessar}' to make 
any decision as to the true definition of true champagne. It is admit- 
ted that the artificially charged champagne is cheaper than that fer- 
mented in the bottle. 

It is claimed by the manufacturers that it is just as good or better 
than the wine fermented in the bottle. If that is true there ought to 
be no objection to having it marked for what it is, and tlie committee 
recommend the amendment ottered, which compels the manufacturer 
of carbonated wine to place upon the outside of the ))ottle the word 
" carbonated ■" in distinctly legible letters. The committee does not 
say by this recommendation anvthing against artificiallv carljonated 
wine. It simply follows the set rule that it should be sold for what 
it is. 

CINNAMON AND OTHER CONDIMENTS. 

As before stated in this report, the ground pepper and other condi- 
ments, including cinnamon, mustard, ginger, etc., are all more or less 
adulterated, usually with peanut shells or cocoanut shells, which may 
not be deleterious in themselves on account of the small amount used, 
yet the committee is of the opinion that this bill ought to pass, that 
there ma}" be a standard fixed by the Government which must be met 
by the manufacturer of these food products, or, failing to meet it, to 
state for the benefit of the consumer how much below the standard 
their prepared food is. 

There are many standards; almost as many standards as there are 
manufacturers. This bill is not intended to interfere with those well- 
known trade preparations of blended condiments, but the object of the 
committee is to give the consumer the benefit of knowing what he is 
purchasing, and to free the honest manufacturer from competition 
with adulterated goods. It is a well-known fact that ground pepper is 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. XI 

cheaper than the pepper before it is ground, showing conclusive!}' that 
it is adulterated, or that some disinterested manufacturer is willing to 
pay something for the privilege of grinding pepper. This applies to 
a thousand articles of food, herbs, fruits, and drinks, and there is 
absolutely, in the opinion of the conunittee, no relief except there be a 
uniform standard. 

State laws will not do, for the reason heretofore given, that Ameri- 
can manufacturers trade in all the States and want a uniform law. It 
is not intended by this statement of the conmiittee to discourage the 
passing of pure-food laws by the States. Such laws will be helpful, 
and, if the Senate bill recommended becomes a law, the standard fixed 
on food products by the Government of the United States would in all 
probability be adopted by the State legislatures and boards investigat- 
ing the matter. In any e^'ent the standard of food should be uniform. 

CREAM OF TARTAR. 

The evidence of the Government chemists shows that practically 
every sample of cream of tartar which were purchased in groceries 
and drug stores was a fraud. His evidence shows but one sample hav- 
ing the least trace of cream of tartar in it; that he did buy samples, at 
the cream-of -tartar establishments, which were pure, and which he took 
as standard for making other analyses. This adulterated cream of 
tartar is known to the trade as C. T. S., which means cream of tartar 
substitute, which is a product of alum and has no place in the diet of 
a human being. 

Cream of tartar, as shown })y the evidence, is a natural food product 
from the grape, and is an article of very common use, not only in the 
manufacture of baking powder, but among the millions of families 
who buy, or trv to buy, cream of tartar and make their own baking 
powder as they need it. But, by this deception, thousands of people 
eat this cream of tartar sul)stitute, which is alum, who would not will- 
ingly use alum as an article of food. Such deception and adulteration 
should be prohibited by law. 

IMPORTED ADULTERATED FOODS. 

If it is the policy to restrict our own citizens to the use of pure food, 
we certainly should apply the same rule to foreigners who manufac- 
ture goods to be sold in this countr}-. There is no doubt in the minds 
of the connuittee that large amounts of imported goods are sold in 
this country the sale of which goods would be prohibited in the coun- 
tr}- from which the}' eome. To explain more fully, the dried, imperfect 
beans of coffee screened out in Germany by the ton are shipped to this 
country and known as ''black-jack," and reputable grocers who have 
testified to the mixture of this product with good coffee also testified to 
their anxiety and willingness to abstain from so doing, if their com- 
petitors could be compelled to do the same. Such business men are 
driven to the situation of going out of business or meeting competi- 
tion by the methods adopted by their competitors. 

It is believed that if Senate bill 2426 becomes a law that the board 
will fix a standard of coffee which must contain a miriimum amount of 
caffeine or extract of coffee. This would fix a standard, and by mak- 
ing an inexpensive examination and test at the port of entry, practi- 



XII ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

cally pass on every pound of coffee sold to the people of the United 
States. Again, take imported beers. Some of the countries which 
import beer into this country absolutely prohibit the use of antiseptics 
or preservatives for the beers sold in their own country, but do not 
prohibit the use of it for export purposes, and the analysis shows, in 
some of the imported beers, the presence of some of these preservatives. 
The committee has not had opportunit}^ to examine all the laws of 
other countries upon the subject of beer standards, but, taking to be 
correct the evidence of witnesses before the committee, even the coun- 
tries requiring a standard of beer for their own consumption do not 
require any such standard if it is to be sent to America for consump- 
tion. What was said before about coffee would apply to this product 
as well, and if a standard is not tixed for our domestic beer it should 
be for imported beer, for the reason that beer that is shipped a long 
way in wood has greater need of preservatives than that which is 
made nearer home for practically immediate consumption. 

PRESERVATIVES. 

Under this head an immense amount of evidence has been taken. 
The indiscriminate use of preservatives in different food products is 
a dangerous practice and one w^hich ought to receive the most careful 
supervision. There is no doubt in the minds of the committee that 
much carelessness is covered up by the use of preservatives. Accord- 
ing to the evidence of Dr. Wiley the use of small amounts of preserv- 
atives under certain circumstances is not in the least degree dangerous 
to public health. 

It is impossible to call attention to all or even a great part of the 
articles of food which are adulterated. It is thought by the committee 
that for the present we have called attention to enough to show the 
plan of legislation and the necessity for it. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



Tuesday, March 7, 1S99. 

Committee met and organized iti the rooms of the Committee on 
Manufactures, in The Maltby, Washington. 

Mr. Harris. I make the motion that the chairman of the committee, 
as a subcommittee, be authorized to hold meetings at such time or 
i;)lace as he may see fit for the purpose of investigating and taking 
evidence. 

STATEMENT OF AUGUSTINE GALLAGHER. 

Augustine Gallagher was the first witness. Being duly sworn, 
he testified as follows: 

Senator Mason, chairman. What is your name? 

Answer. Augustine (iallaglier. 

The Chairman. What is your business, Mr. Gallagher? 

Answer. I am engaged in the publishing business, but at this time I 
Happen to be a revenue agent in cliarge of the enforcement of the mixed- 
flour law, an act of Congress. 

The Chairman. That is part of what is known as the war-revenue 
act, approved 1898? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. When were you appointed revenue agent having 
that in charge? 

Answer. August 14, 1898. I was commissioned previous to the 
enforcement of the act, which went into effect the 15th day of August. 

The Chairman. What have been your duties since your appointment? 

Answer. I was given a commission as revenue agent, but was also 
given a letter of instnn-tions in addition to look after the enforcement 
of the mixed-flour law. I was to go from place to place and confer with 
the other revenue agents who were appointed to enforce the mixed- 
flour law. 

The Chairman. Have there been any seizures of mixed flour that 
has not been properly stamped under the law? 

Answer. There have been quite a number of such cases, of finding 
flour that has been mixed with products other than wheat. 

Mr. Harris. 1 would like to ask you in regard to the duties of mixed- 
flour inspectors, what were you authorized to do, what steps did you 
take, what was it necessary for you to do to carry out the objects of the 
law? 

Answer. The law, as you gentlemen all know, was enacted in the 
rush that characterized the work of the whole war-revenue act. The 
flour sections were incorporated as a part of this act as a result of the 
efforts of Senator Mason, There was no time to consider details. The 
law provided for twenty agents and clerks. 



ADULTERATION OB^ FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Harris. You were put in there just as tbe other revenue agents 



were 



Answer. 1 was asked to accept the position on account of having 
re})resented the millers and the milliug iudustry, and because I had 
given evidence that was submitted to Congress on this question which 
resulted in the act. In answering your question 1 would like to tell 
you what I did. In Senator Harris's State I knew where there was a 
miller — no names need be mentioned — that had been mixing flour. The 
mill had borne a good reputation. My opinion was that they were 
forced by competition to mix flour rather than by a desire of gain. I pro- 
ceeded to that mill, and under the authority I had I made a thorough 
examination. There I found stored on the premises a large amount of 
glucose starch. There was a case where the man had been mixing glu- 
cose starch into wheat flour. The flour act does not give anyone the 
power to prevent a miller from occupying his i)remises with adulterants, 
and any amendments you caii jiass should provide for this. But the law 
did authorize me to give this man to understand that he had been sus- 
pected of using starch for an adulterant, and I informed him that I 
would take a memorandum of the amount of starch on hand and the 
next agent would see if he had the same amount still; if not, he would 
find out what he had done with it. As a result he took out a license. 
He did not want the revenue agent to bring him into court, so, as a 
result, he took out a license. He now mixes flour, but does it accord- 
ing to law. His license is an evidence of the fact that a representative 
of the United States has examined his plant and that he now operates 
it according to law. 

Mr. Harris. Do you think that he is using this now, and under the 
law it is properly branded, and such brands indicate what it is? 

Answer. He would not dare to do otherwise. It would compromise 
his mill and get him into serious trouble. He explained to me that he 
did it for only five or six customers out of his total trade. He had to 
do it or quit the trade of these customers. I don't suppose he has 
worked off that glucose yet that he had stored there. 

The Chairman. Let me ask you with regard to inspecting the 
products of the mills where they mix. Do you examine the branded 
packages'? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You may state what, if any, suggestions you have 
to make based upon information which has come to you as an agent in 
charge of this matter for the Government, as to any amendment that 
ought to be made to the pure-flour act. 

Answer. My experience in the enforcement of the law leads me to 
advise that the act be amended as it now stands by leaving out the 
self-raising jjancake and buckwheat flours, etc. It was not our inten- 
tion, when we had a hearing on this question and when the matter was 
discussed, to include those flours. The self-raising flour is not an adul- 
terated flour at all, at least it has never been so considered; it is pure 
flour which has added to it leavening qualities. The millers make the 
self-raising flours to accommodate housewives. It does away with the 
long raising of bread and is mixed ready for use. I think the act 
should be amended so that the people manufacturing it can have relief. 
Those manufacturing self-raising flours have now to take out licenses 
and stamp their goods for what they are, in case wheat is the principal 
ingredient. I think the act should also be amended to provide licenses 
for dealers in mixed flours, even though it would call for a nominal tax. 
The man who buys mixed flour from the manufacturer should be com- 
I)elled to keep a record. 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 6 

The books of the manufacturers are open to us and we know where 
they sell these goods. A sells goods to Smith & Co., but Smith & Co. 
are not under any obligations to tell the revenue agent where they sell 
the goods. The law does not compel the dealer to pay taxes and he 
keeps no record. If you only tax him for 50 cents a month it would be 
a good thing to comj^el the dealer to keep records. 

Another feature of the law that 1 think should be amended would be to 
provide a penalty for failure to report business transactions. I found 
one manufacturer in Indiana who had not rei)orted for three months; 
he had bought about three thousand revenue stamps. His records 
showed this, but he should be compelled to report in duplicate, under 
penalty. In this way the revenue agents can check the offices of manu- 
facturers thoroughly. The manufacturer I have in mind was conduct- 
ing his business as though he were doing business with a huckster 
instead of the Gov^ernment. There was no penalty which could i-each 
him. This is one of the results of the rush in passing the act that I 
spoke about, though we considered ourselves very fortunate to get the 
act at all. 

The Chairman. Evidence given in the former hearings before this 
committee showed that ground clay, known as mineraline, and ground 
stone, known as barytes, were used in adulterating flour before this act 
was passed. What are the facts now in regard to that, so far as your 
in form ation goes ? 

Answer. I would state that I believe that there is not one pound of 
flour in tlie United States so adulterated. I am of the opinion there 
never has been, since the day of the enforcement of this act, a pound of 
flour adulterated so. 

Mr. Harris. You think, then, that the effect of this act has been to 
destroy the use of those articles as adulterants"? 

Answer. I am positive of it. My investigation throughout the entire 
extent of territory that was subject to adulteration, or the territory in 
which the adulteration was carried on, goes to show that to be the case. 
There were a large number of cases of adulterated flour wliich I dis- 
covered and held to be taxable under the law. There have only been 
one or two cases where the flour was made and offered for sale contrary 
to the act since the enforcement of the law. The flour was in most 
cases made before the enactment of the law. As I described to you, 
Mr. Chairman, I had just before coming here found 1,200 barrels of 
mixed flour in the South, which flour had been in that mill since May, 
stock on hand, but under section 49 it was held to be taxable, under the 
clause in which it states if found on the premises after date of the law's 
enforcement. We found a great deal of mixed flour made previous to 
the law's enactment subject to taxation; but there is some very whole- 
some flour, corn and wheat mixtures, made under the mixed flour law. 
It has served its purpose to a remarkable degree. 

The Chairman. Do you remember when you were before this com- 
mittee calling our attention to the existence of a certain factory which 
made a certain article from ground clay? The York Manufacturing 
Company, you remember calling our attention to that? 

Answer. I do. 

The Chairman. Are they still manufacturing that article; if so, for 
what purpose is it used? 

Answer. The production of that article is quite an industry in itself. 
Of course my investigation never led me to inquire regarding any food 
exce]>t flour. The organized millers made at least one analysis which 
should be presented. My personal investigations led me to Tennessee 
and Georgia; there I discovered, on inquiring of a transportation agent, 



4 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

tiiat tlie stuff was being shipped. It was not exactly clear from what 
he said what was being done with it, but I was convinced from what I 
learned that there were a few mills that had at least experimeuted with 
it in flour. It was of course supposed to be a dangerous thing to do. 
If known the man who did it would, of course, lose his reputation as 
a miller. Nevertheless, there were some experiments made which en- 
couraged these people to believe the adulterant mentioned might be 
adopted by the milling trade, and on this assumption they sent the 
letters which you reported to the Senate. We got oat of it so promptly 
that I am convinced that the business of so adulterating of breadstuffs 
was never acce[»table and never got outside of the two States mentioned, 
and those were the States in which the adulterants were produced. I 
am told — I don't know; I never made an examination; I never under- 
took to separate them— that there are several food products that carry 
that mineraline. 

The Chairman. That is what we are anxious to know; and while you 
say that you have no personal knowledge, I would like information on 
that. 

Answer. I have heard people discuss the matter at table and at bars 
wliere powdered sugar is used. You find the residue of the sugar in 
the bottom of the glass when used in transparent drinks. I have found 
that it is adulterated and is insoluble, and should be stamped. My 
observation is that it is practically clear before placed in the article that 
it is to sweeten. 

Mr. Harris. You have positive knowledge concerningits use in sugix,v ? 

Answer. I have no positive knowledge. I have been informed by 
several reputable members of the trade that this article is used in feed- 
stuffs. 

Mr. Harris. Can it be used in shorts'? 

Answer. Yes; 1 will cite an instance which could be used to justify 
people who are otherwise well informed, but who would not take the 
trouble to investigate their purchases. You will come to a mill, we will 
say, to buy feed; the miller would say, now there is a nice rich feed. 
You take up a sample of the bran and find that it apparently has much 
flour sticking to it. You are sure it is rich ; there is a good deal of flonr 
in the bran, you think, and is apparently clean feed, and you have proof 
of rich feed. 

The Chairman. Looks like bran that had not been thoroughly bolted 
out? 

Answer. Yes; the adulteration is very easy. I consider this feed- 
stuff' question as very important, gentlemen; I attach niore importance 
to it than I did a year ago, when the flour law was passed, which is due 
to the fact that I have been almost continually among people who pro- 
duce breadstuffs and feedstuff's, and I have learned in that time suffi- 
cient to at least satisfy me that the opposition — that is, tbe suspected 
opposition of some of the trusts of the country, the opposition of food- 
stuff' and feedstutf manufacturers — has defeated general pure-food leg- 
islation in this country for the last ten years. That is the testimony of 
gentlemen who are interested in it. 

The Chairman. In other words, those people adulterating feedstuffs 
for live stoclv are so much interested in protecting their own business 
that they have prevented any general pure-food legislation'? 

Answer. Yes, sir. I would base my answer on the information 
secured from Mr. Weddeburn, who assured me some time ago that the 
pure-food bill was defeated in the Fifty-third Congress by the cotton- 
seed mill influence. They considered tha;t the measure was an attack 
on their industry, in spite of the fact that it was known that in not a 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 5 

few instances clay was beine: mixed into feed. I would suggest tliat 
your committee would find very little difficulty in discovering positive 
proof that such practice is being carried on to day. 

Mr. Harris. Have you any information as to the extent of which 
cotton seed oil is used in the manufacture of lard? 

Answer. None whatever. 

The Chairman. Previous to the passage of this flour act, what, if 
any, claims were made by manufacturers of adulterants as to their 
products being in demand on their own merits? What the adulterants 
were and what was claimed for them"? 

Answer. There were claims made by the manufacturers of corn flour. 

The Chairman. That is where the corn grains are bolted? 

Answer. Yes; and treated after the manner of wheat-flour milling. 

The Chairman. Is there more than one kind? 

Answer. There is only one kind of flour, but there is more than one 
kind of corn product. The principal ones are corn flour and starch, 
the latter produced by glucose factories. The manufacturers of these 
claim that both of these were quite healthful, and in the case of corn 
flour no one questions the truthfulness of this statement. They claim 
that in each case where mixing was being done that it was a reputable 
trade; that their customers were informed that such mixing was being 
done, and that the goods was then sold on its own merits; that no 
fraud was practiced; that not only the dealers but the customers, know- 
ing what they were buying, wanted the goods, and that therefore 
there was no demand for the legislation then proposed. The result of 
the enforcement of the act is shown by the fact that 95 per cent of the 
people engaged at the time in mixing corn products into wheat flour 
have retired from that branch of the business. They will tell you 
to-day, as they have told me when I called on them, tliat people abso 
lutely will not buy mixed corn and wheat flours when they know it, 
except in such form as they have been in the habit of getting for years — 
the flours in small packages, and flours that everybody expects will be 
mixed. Buckwheat flour, if often mixed with from 15 to 20 per cent 
wheat flour, so that the cake will hold together better when baked, 
some people are willing to buy this, though some people are not. It is 
generally conceded by the trade, by men who are honorable and reputa- 
ble, that what was told you to secure the enactment of the flour law is 
true, and claims of those who said they could sell it just as well branded 
as not branded if they had to are answered by their failure to do so. 
Those men tell you to-day that they have absolutely no mixed-flour 
trade. I could refer you to some mills that are licensed under the 
mixed-flour act who are doing scarcely no business in mixed flour. 

Mr. Harris. In other words, it proves it to be truy that the people 
wanted pure flour? 

Answer. It does, beyond a shadow of a doubt. People don't want 
a mongrel, they want real goods; they are satisfied to tiust their judg- 
ment. If they want any mixing done they wish to do it themselves. 
They do not wish to be victimized in the mixing. People understand 
there is no use of any one mixing products unless they are making- 
money by the process. The enforcement of the flour act has accom- 
plished more in three months than was ever claimed for it by the most 
extravagant. 

The Chairman. What effect has this enforcement on the exports of 
flour? 

Answer. Our ex])ort trade in wheat flour has increased between U4 
and 25 per cent during the first three months of the operation of the 
mixed-flour law. 



6 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Do you attribute that iucrease to the operation ot 
the law? 

Answer. I do, most assuredly, because our millers had borne an 
unblemished reputation previous to this adulteration plague, if you 
may call it so, and tbe knowledge of the practice of the mixing of flour 
had not been extensively carried abroad up to the time we secured the 
legislation. We are informed that tbe press abroad had just begun to 
take the matter up and begun to discuss it. If there was a damaging 
effect it would only be for two or three months, and those months 
would be about March, April, and May, a year ago. The per cent I 
give you was along in August, September, and October of the previous 
year. 

Every day we have to consider the most gratifying results of the 
operation of that law. It was claimed by the people who assumed to 
represent the mixers that the enactment of the mixed-flour law would 
ruin the corn-milling business of this country, and that it would be an 
injury to the small dealers and the corn growers in this country. The 
facts are in the case that while the wheat-flour exports have increased 
more than 24 per cent during the months mentioned, namely, August, 
September, and October, 1898, the corn-mill exports during the same 
months increased about 48 per cent over the corn-milling exports of 
August, September, and October, 1897. 

Mr. Harris. Have you heard from any source any comiflaint of the 
law? 

Answer. None, except in regard to its enforcement in the case of 
self-raising flours. The people engaged in that line of trade are of the 
opinion that it works a hardship on them. 

Mr. Harris. That was not the real object contemplated by the law. 

Answer. No, sir. 

Mr. Harris. The authorities in construing the law used the term 
mixed flour in a general sense. 

Answer. Yes, sir ; even the manufacturers who complain of this appli- 
cation in that particular are ardent friends of the act in general; they 
are its supporters and would not have it repealed under any circum- 
stances. 

Mr. Harris. My question with regard to the complaints was more 
intended to apply to its injuries for producers of corn and dealers in 
corn or wheat in any form. 

Answer. I have heard some complaints in that respect. What is 
known as the glucose trust has been making some complaint. They 
set out a claim that their business has been hurt. Of course it does 
not mention the benefits of the public, and just why it should injure 
them if it is an honest work I have been unable to discover. Never- 
theless, the concern has, it is said, issued several circulars. 

Mr. Harris. I understand it was done as an illustration of the injury 
to their business. 

Answer. We took no steps against any honest producers under this 
law. There is in it no word of harm to any legitimate business, but 
there is some complaint from that source that there is an injury to their 
business. There has been complaint from the millers of corn; that is 
but natural, because the mixing these millers have done was done for 
special customers and they have lost them. 

Mr. Harris. Is there any demand for corn flour on its merits as an 
article of food ? 

Answer. Yes; it is an excellent article of food. 

Mr. Mason. It is used in such forms as cornstarcli, is it not? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 7 

Answer, Yes; there is a demand for corn flour at tbe confectioners. 
There is more demand for some grades of corn flour than the manufac- 
turers can supply. 

Mr. Mason. I have a communication from two different sources say- 
ing that the cracker and biscuit trusts were using this adulterated 
flour. Have you any information about it"? 

Answer. When I was in the West last summer 1 received an intima- 
tion of that same character, and proceeded to personally inspect two 
or three bakeries. I found no evidence of adulterated flour, but what 
they might be doing in twenty or thirty other places I could not say. 
These bakers, I became satisfied, are producing the character of goods 
that an undue amount of starch would ruin. I should think that some 
of the goods produced by the combined bakers would bear an amount of 
starch which the old-fashioned crackers would not. 

Mr. Harris. You say you inspected these bakeries. Could you tell 
if their goods had been mixed? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Harris. Without a chemical examination ? 

Answer. 1 would apply the sense of touch ; it is simple ; if it was very 
starchy that would show it. If not the microscope might reveal it. 
If in doubt I would send a sample to the laboratory. The Department 
has adopted the use of a microscope of 350 diameters power, which 
reveals the presence of corn granules in the wheat very readily. After 
that the practice of the Department is to submit the samples to the 
chemical bureau of the Treasury Department. I think in my experience 
of the use of the microscope in all cases of doubt that not 5 per cent of 
my suspicions have proved to be cases of pure flour. 

Mr. Mason. Have you had any communications from people from 
over the water to whom we have sent our flour since the operation of 
this law, and can you state what feeling there is as to the eflect of our 
law ? 

Answer. Yes, sir, I have. The importers of American flour — foreign 
importers — are a unit in admiration of the i>romptuess with which the 
American i^eople came to the rescue of flour millers and our present 
system of guaranteeing the purity of their goods. I think I could 
furnish you with evidence in this connection which would be most 
convincing to any one. 

Mr. Mason. Will you give us any letters or communications which 
we can use? 

Answer. If desired, I will have the Modern Miller Company, of 
which I am a member, furnish you with letters received from leading- 
handlers of American flour abroad. 

There being no other witnesses present, the commission then 
adjourned. 



November 28, 1899. 
Dear Sir: I have the honor to hand you herewith the transcript of my evidence 
hefore your commission. 

I also hand you letters from foreign buyers of American flour, as reqviested by your 
honorable commission. 

I am pleased to note that these letters, from representative importers of American 
flour, positively emphasize tbe importance of such legislation and the great good it 
has clone. 

I am, sir, respectfully, 

Augustine Gallagher. 

Hon. W. E. Mason, Chairman Pure Food Commission, Washington, D. C. 



8 ADULTERATION Oi^ FOOD PRODUCTS. 

London, October 12, 1899. 
Dear Sirs: Replying to yours of tlie l()th ultimo, with regard to the pure flour 
law now in operation in your country, since this act was passed by Congress it has 
certainly n-stored contidence on this side, and in my opinion will materially assist 
your export trade. 

Yours, faithfully, 

W. M. Meeson, 
Per John Stanmore. 
The Modern Mjller, St. Louis. 



Bremen, October 13, 1899. 
Dear Sir : Li reply to your esteemed favor of the 16th ultimo, I can only state 
that the trade in American flour in this country will certainly be extended by a 
Government guaranty of the purity of the flour produced in the United States. 
Yours, truly, 

GoTTFR. Luce. 
Augustine Gallagher Esq., 

President of the Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



London, E. C, October 10, 1899. 
Dear Sirs: Your circular letter of 16th September to hand; contents noted. 
We have much pleasure in stating that the pure-flour law has worked very well 
indeed, and we have now more faith in buying American flour since its purity is 
assured. We certainly think that without such a law preventing adulteration of 
American flour with maize the trade in American flour in this country would have 
suffered considerably. 
Yours, truly, 

Morris & Q'o. 
The Modern Miller, St. Louis, Mo. 



Glasgow, Septemher 29, 1899. 

Dear Sirs : In reply to your circular letter of the 16th instant, we would state the 
firms we correspond with on your side are of a class that would not condescend to 
shipping an adulterated article. We are not aware that we have ever received a sack 
of flour that we could say contained anything but pure wheaten flour. At the same 
time, we know that others have not been so fortunate, and, therefore, legislation in 
the direction aimed at by your pure-flour law was necessary, and your export trade 
will benefit thereby. 

Yours, faithfully, 

Bruce ife Wilson. 

Messrs. The Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



Liverpool, Septewher SO, 1899. 



Gentlemen: We are in receipt of your circular letter of the 16th instant, and in 
reply beg to say that the trade here in American flour depends naturally on the 
quality, and any adulteration with corn products would doubtless injure the sale 
and restrict the imports, but we do not believe that much, if any, adulterated flour 
ever came to this market. We shall be glad if Mr. Hall will report to us what he is 
doing in the matter of Mr. J. F. Imbs. 
Yours, faithfully, 

Reid & Glasgow. 
Messrs. The Modern Miller, Si. Louis. 



Rotterdam, October 3, 1899. 
Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of September 16, we beg to say that while being 
advocates of such legislative measures as the pure -flour law or the "A. A. L.," we 
prefer to- abstain from expressing any opinion on its good efl'ects on the export of 
American flour to the Continent. 

Believe us, dear sir, yours, trulv, 
Augustine Gallagher, Est]., W. Schoffer. 

Manager of the Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



ADULTEKATIOlsr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 9 

T^ONDOX, October- 7, 1899. 
De-ar Sir: We beg leave to ackuowledge receipt of yonr favor of the 16tli ultimo, 
iuqniring whether the new pnrc-flour law on your side has benefited the American 
flour trade here, and in reply to same we have to say that it has most certainly done 
so, inasmuch as we can now buy with safety from almost any miller on your side, 
whereas before this law was passed we had to be somewliat careful in I'hoosing our 
miller, it being a well-known fact that some were adulterating; but this now being 
illegial, we look for an improvement here in the imports of American flour. 
We are, dear sir, yours, tiuly, 

Bkgijies, Ross & Gibson. 
Per Bernard Bartow. 
Mr. Augustine Gallagher, 

The Modern Miller, St. Louts. 



Glasgow, September P,0, 1899. 
Dear Sir: We are in receipt of your favor of 16th, regarding the effect that the 
pure-flour law has ou our trade, and we do not think that the confidence of the Scot- 
tish trade was in any degree shaken in American flour, as no case has ever turned up 
in Scotland in which adulterated flour has Iteen discovered, as far as we know. 
However, there is no doubt that the fact that the purity of flour is under the charge 
of the state ofBce will convince buyers that there is no adulteration possible, and 
that they will be protected from unscruimlous millers. We have, therefore, no 
hesitation in indorsing the benefits that this law has on this side. 
We are, dear sir, yours, truly, 

Mowat Bros. 
Mr. Augustine Gallagher, 

The Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



Amsterdam, September 29, 1S99. 
Dear Sirs : I herewith have the pleasure (o acknowledge receipt of your esteemed 
favor of the 16th instant, and in kind reply I am glad to state that the pure-flour 
law is indeed of material benefit to the American flour trade in this country. 

The adulteration of American flour had become already common gossip, but since 
the law is effective, confidence in purity of American flour is returning. 
I am, dear sirs, yours, truly, 

Mathieu Luchsinger. 
The Modern Miller, St. Louis, Mo. 



Antwerp, October 3, 1899. 

Dear Sirs : We are in receipt of yours of the 16th ultimo, contents of which had 
our careful attention. 

Long before the enactment of the pure-flour law the American trade journals fought 
the adulteration of flour, spreading out the news all over the world and warning 
buyers against the evil, liicontestably the American flour trade has considerably 
suffered during the period preceding the enactment of the pure-flour law. We were 
very often called upon to defend the rejuitation of our American friends. Before 
this wretched idea of adulterating flour was hatched there never was any question 
of guaranteeing the purity of the American product; such guaranty was, however, 
very often recjuested then. Even some sales had to be made under analysis. 

We are (juite convinced that if the law had not nassed, distrust would have been 
so widely sjiread that the American flour trade would have considerably suffered 
through it. 

The trade will be grateful to those who have worked to the edification of the pure- 
flour law. 

Yours, very truly, 

Eugene M. .Janssens. 

The Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



Bristol, September 30, 1899. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of the 16th instant, we have much ])]easure in 

testifying that we believe the operation of the pure-flour law referred to has been of 

material service in the promotion and development of the trade in flour between the 

United States and this country, as it arrested just in time a pernicious system of 



10 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

adulteration which would soon have spoiled all confidence in the purity of any flour 
imported from the States, and would eventually have ruined the industry. Always 
at your service, we are. 
Yours, truly, 

Arthur James & Co. 
iiUGUSTiNE Gallagher, Esq., 

The Modern Miller, St. Louis, Mo. 



Brlstol, September 27, 1899. 
Dear Sir: In reply to your circular letter, we have no hesitation in stating that 
the benefit to the trade in American flour in Europe under the operation of a pure- 
flour law would be considerable. 
Yours, truly. 

Chamberlain, Pole & Co. 
Augustine Gallagher, Esq., 

The Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



London, E. C, Septemher 27, 1899. 
Dear Sirs : We are in receipt of your favor of the 16th instant with reference to 
the operation of the pure-flour law. 

We do not think that before the passing of this law the question of adulterating 
American flour with maize products affected our markets to the extent that it did 
those on your side. We believe that importers here had not the same trouble with 
adulterated flours that buyers in America had, although we heard of a few cases, but 
we feel sure that a law such as the "pure-flour law " is bound to do good, as had it 
not been passed there is no saying to what extent shipping adulterated flour to United 
Kingdom markets might have grown. 

Yours, truly, R. Hunter Craig & Co., Limited, 

Per H. E. Prior. 
The Modern Miller, 

St. Louis, Mo. 



Hamburg, Octoher 6, 1899. 
Dear Sir : Confirming our last letter of the 4th instant, we beg to give "ou today 
another opinion from a friend in Altona, who writes as follows: " If the flour sent 
to Germany is mixed up with corn meal, the importer of it will be prosecuted, and 
none of the dealers would run such a risk; if he would not be sure to get good stuff, 
as soon as there is the probability that any adulteration could happen it would cut 
ott" any further import of American flour. The German Government is very much 
attentive to such things, and in the case that such a consignment should arrive and 
be discovered, it would be the ruin of the importer. 

In Germany the flour is imported on account of its greater baking qualification, 
but the adulteration of it with corn meal will make it heavier, and such a flour would 
be unsalable, therefore the strongest maintenance of the pure-flour law is necessary 
to keep up a regular business with the States, and is a main question for the 
American millers, as far as the export to Germany is concerned. 
Very truly, yours, 

Iarck & Meyer. 
AuGUSTiN Gallagher, 

President of the Modern Miller Co., St. Louis. 



Hamburg, October 4, 1899. 

Dear Sir: We have your favor of September 16 and have interviewed several of 
our large dealers in American flour with regard to the pure-flour law, and hear an 
interesting story from Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony. 

Our friends write as follows: 

"The rumors of adulteration of American flour went through all our papers and 
the consequence was that nearly all our bakurs abstained from buying any more 
American flour, and especially in Dresden, Freiberg, Meissen. Government officials 
went round to the bakers and investigated whether they were using American flour, 
and, if so, took samples and analyzed them. 

"Things even went so far that bakers and the public were warned in the papers 
not tobuyAmericanflour, and my report to the police that there were also good brands, 
which were as pure as they could be, was answered to the eft'ect that they were 



ADULTERATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 11 

ordered by the internal ministery to look into the matter as sharp as possible, and 
so my whole business was upset. 

"My trade was thence in 'Columbia' and 'Rex patent/ and I had them analyzed, 
and made known the result in a number of papers, and by and by our people forgot, 
over the fine quality, the old stories; and agitations once made by our millers and 
farmers against your flours have slowly died away, and I sup[iose that the American 
pure-flour law will help to reassure our people of the absolute purity of American 
flours and to enlarge trade to great extent." 
Very truly, yours, 

Iakck a Meyer. 
Mr. Austin Gallagher, 

President of the Modern Miller Companji, St. Louis. 



Amsterdam, October 17, 1S99. 

Gentlemen: We are most happy that, by having to answer your esteemed favor 
of September 16, we should be attbrded an opportunity to state our fully indorsing 
the opinion of your esteemed president: "That the enactment of the pure-flour law 
has greatly benefited the American flour trade in foreign countries, restoring con- 
fidence wherever the same had been shaken." The events in our own country enable 
ns to furnish a proof for this statement. In the course of 1898 the Holland millers, 
backed by the protectionists, exerted themselves to obtain the levying of duty on 
foreign flour and tried to support their claim by alluding to the alleged doubtful 
purity of the American flour. Discussing their petition in our Parliament, our state 
secretary of finances, the Hon. Pierson, refuted their argument by pointing most 
emphatically at the existence of the pure-flour law in the United States. 

It is our strong conviction that the exporter as well as the importer should allow 
the widest scope of guaranty to ascertain the purity of the food stufl^'s they are 
dealing in. Measures by Government, as well as those taken by persons who are in 
some way interested in the flour trade, should be supported as much as possible. 
Nor should we rest satisfied at having done so much. < >ne of the common points of 
human weakness consists in attaching a higher value to what one sees being per- 
formed before one's own eyes than to the result of any operation or measure carried 
out in foreign parts. 

So the permanent analysis of American flour by a Holland chemical station is 
much more apt to impress upon the Holland people the value of its good quality 
tha.n the existence of a law whose enactment can not be looked after by them. 
Many American millers and their importers have taken this circumstance into 
account and have submitted their brands to a regular control of some home chemical 
station. 

We firmly believe that all United States millers who understand their true inter- 
ests and are wishing to promote the growth of their export trade, in order to sup- 
press and remove all room for suspicion, should require their Holland importers to 
haA^e their jiroduce put under the regular and constant control of some recognized 
chemical station in Holland itself. 

Yours, very truly. Zee Grippelin<;. 

The Modern Miller, 

St. Louis. 



Hamburg, October-:?.',, 1899. 

Dear Sirs : Acknowledging receipt of your favor of 16th ultimo, I have the honor 
to inform you that the pure-flour law is of the greatest importance. P>y this law the 
confidence as regards the purity of American flour has come back again, which has 
been strongly afi^ected by the German Jnizos. How far this agitation against Amer- 
ican flour has gone I will tell you. As you know, I am agent of Messrs. Washburn, 
Crosby & Co., Minneapolis, for Germany, and have in all large cities of Germany 
subagents for the sale of their products. In all these cities, as Berlin, Hamburg, 
Dresden, Leipzig, Manheim, Magdeburg, Chemnitz, Frankfort-on-the-Main, and so 
on, the authorities, in consequence of denunciation, have drawn samples of the 
Washburn products but, as I anticipated, they were found pure. What consequences 
might have arisen if they had not been pure you may easily imagine. Firstly, they 
would have condemned me to a high penal sum if not to a confinement, and the im- 
port of American flour would have been prohibited. 

By the fact that the flour was pure and by your pure-flour law the confidence of 
the German buyers is again reestablished. 
Very truly, yours, 

GUSTAV Kruger, 

Weisheim. 

The Modern Miller, St. Louis. 



12 adulteration of food products. 

Committee on Manufactures, 

United States Senate, 
At Headquarters, Grand Pacific Hotel, 

Chicago, III., May 3, 1899. 
The committee mot at 10.30 a. m. 
Present: Senator Mason (chairman). 

Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief chemist, United States Department of Agri- 
culture, appeared. 

STATEMENT OF DR. H. W. WILEY. 

Chief Chemist of the United States Department oi Agriculture. 

The Chairman. You may state your name, residence, and occupation. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. H. W. Wiley; residence, Washington, D. C; 
occupation, chief chemist, United States Department of Agriculture. 

Tlie Chairman. How long have you been in that Department! 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Since the 9th of April, 1883. 

The Chairman. Sixteen years this month 'I 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Sixteen years last month; the seventeenth 
year of service. 

The Chairman. Are you a graduate of any medical or scientific 
school? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I am a graduate of Harvard University, class 
of 1873, and subsequently took a course in a medical college in Indiana, 
graduating with the degree of M. D. After that I studied chemistry, 
and esj)ecially food chemistry, in the university at Berlin in 1878-79. 
I was ai)pointed chemist in Purdue University and State chemist of 
Indiana in 1881 and served in that capacity until I took my present 
position as chief chemist in the Department of Agriculture. I have 
been president for two years of the American Chemical Society and 
have been vice-president of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, and have been president of that association. I am a 
member of the chemical section American Chemical Society, German 
Chemical Society, and Federated Institute of Brewing in England. 
I am an honorary member of that body. I have been president of the 
Official Agricultural Chemists of the Lnited States, composed of all 
the chemists having any official connection with the Government, 
either for State or municipal bodies, or boards of health, and have been 
permanent secretary and executive officer of that association for eleven 
years, and am still. 

The Chairman. During your connection with the Agricultural De- 
partment what have been mainly your duties as chief chemist? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. My duties of chief chemist have been the 
invi^stigation of all problems of a chemical nature relating to agricul- 
ture or agricultural products, especially our foods. 

The Chairman. In the course of that service have you had occasion 
to analyze manufactured articles of food which have been exposed for 
sale upon the jnarkets of this country? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have had occasion to make careful exami- 
nation of almost every variety of food that has ever been exposed upon 
our markets for sale. 

The Chairman. Is that also so as to drink? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Also drinks, because you include in foods all 
the beverages which are used and also all condiments. The term 
" food " embraces foods of any description and condiments. One term 
represents all. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 13 

The Chairman. When you speak of food products, techuically that 
means all food and drinks and condiments, all that goes into our 
stomachs for the purpose of sustaining life. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; for the purpose of sustaining life and 
ministering to the taste or as stimulants. It embraces the whole 
range. 

The Chairman. Well, now, Doctor, I wish you would, for the benefit 
of this committee and for the benefit of the United States Senate, to 
which body we must report, give us some information regarding arti- 
cles of food consumption that are being adulterated in this country, 
basing it upon your experience and analyses. 

Chief Cheujist Wiley. Among the first of the products which I 
investigated as chemist of the Agricultural Department were dairy 
products. This was done before the passage of the oleomargiirine law, 
and in this investigation I determined as far as possible the degree and 
character and extent of the adulteration of dairy products. These 
adulterations I found to be of the following nature: In the case of 
milk the most common form of adulteration is the abstraction of the 
milk fat in the cream. Where this was not done water was often added 
in order to dilute the milk. I also found that preservatives were used 
in the milk tojnevent souring. Boric acid, for instance, and formalde- 
hyde have often been used for this purpose. In the way of the adul- 
teration of butter I found that other fats, animal and vegetable, were 
substituted for the butter fat, as for instance, mixtures of cotton-seed 
oil and beef fat, and sometimes a high grade of pork fat — the hig'hest 
grade of lard having been used instead of butter fat, and these com- 
pounds and mixtures were often sold as pure butter and commercially 
disposed of before the passage of the oleomargarine act, which com- 
pelled the stamping and branding of packages of this kind. 

The Chairman. Do you consider the oleomargarine act, so called, of 
great practical use in stopping the sale of adulterated butter ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I think that where this act has been enforced 
it has been a great protection to the public. 

The Chairman. Do you think now of any snggestions that you could 
make to this committee where it could be improved in the act itself — 
have you any suggestions to make ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have not, of com\se, looked at the law from 
that point of view. My sole point of view would be to protect the 
public, and the farmers making pure dairy products, against fraudu- 
lent adulterations. The best legal way of doing this I have not inves- 
tigated. 

The Chairman. I mean this: Do you feel that the present law, if 
legally enforced, will have that effect? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I think it will. 

The Chairman. Then, so far as the law itself is concerned, you have 
not in mind now any suggestion to make to the committee amending 
that present law? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Only this, which is hardly pertinent for me 
to make. 

The Chairman. We call for it and think it is pertinent. We want 
your experience. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. These mixtures of animal fats and vegetable 
oils, in my opinion, are perfectly wholesome and good in nutritious 
food. My only objection is that a large amount of these wholesome 
and nutritious foods are taxed, which does not look fair to them as 
foods. They are foods which are cheaper, and therefore many persons 



14 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

in straitened circumstances x>i'efer to use them; aud if so, it does 
not seem quite right that they should pay excessive taxes upon such 
things as they require. If the public could be protected against fraud 
without tax, personally I should prefer it, as I see no reason why a 
person desiring a cheap aud nutritious food should not be allowed to 
have it. What I do object to is seeing persons in straitened circum- 
stances paying tancy prices, supposing they are getting butter when 
in point of fact they are not. Continuing, therefore, in dairy products 
I have found that in cheese there is a very common jDractice of adul- 
teration, aud one I believe which is often injurious, viz, the abstrac- 
tion of the butter fat aud the substitution of some other fat, forming 
what is known as "filled" cheese. 

I used the word injurious in the above sense in the sense of fraudu- 
lent. Inasmuch as the added fats are usually pure aud wholesome, 
but less valuable than the natural food, their substitution is a fraud to 
the consumer from a financial point of view. The cheeses which are 
made with these added fats are also to my taste less palatable and 
less desirable in every way than those made from the whole milk, 
although I could not say that they are less nutritious. Another food 
product which I liav'e examined extensively is honey. 

The Chairman. Yes; what about the adulteration of honey? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Honey, perhaps, is as extensively adulter- 
ated as any other food product in the United States, and this is espe- 
cially so because glucose is very convenient and very cheap as an 
adulterant for honey. In the examination of a great number of liquid 
honeys purchased in the open market I found that a large percentage 
of them — more than half, in fact — were adulterated. Sometimes the 
adulterations are nearly complete substitutions, the quantity of real 
honey being only suflicient to impart a slight honey flavor to the mix- 
ture. In other cases the percentage of real honey was greater. Very 
often have I seen in jars pieces of honeycomb filled presumedly with 
pure honey, but floating in a large excess of glucose, giving to the 
purchaser the idea that the liquid matter had exuded from the comb, 
while in fact it had been added to the honey bodily. The adulteration 
of honey, therefore, has proven probably as j)rofltable as that of any 
other form of food sophistication. 

The Chairman. You recognize, do you, that some of the adultera- 
tions are mere frauds aud some are deleterious to the public health? 

Chief Chemist W^iley. Yes; I make that distinction also, as, for 
instance, m the case just cited. 

The Chairman. I would like to have your opinion as to what are 
frauds and what are both frauds and deleterious to the public health. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. In my opinion glucose is not deleterious to 
health. It is wholesome, somewhat sweet, readily digested, and when 
used carefully, in my opinion, is not an injurious product. The fraud 
is a financial one — the substitution of the cheaper for the dearer sweet 
and the selling of the cheaper article for the natural and dearer 
product. 

The Chairman. And it works not only a fraud upon the consumer, 
but is unjust opposition, is it, to the honest producer? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The adulteration of honey has almost driven 
to bankruj)tcy farmers who derive part of their income from genuine 
honey. And especially is this true in parts of California, Avhere the 
farmers' chief income was from honey. It has injured every farmer 
who keeps a hive of bees, in diminishing the value of his product, so 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 15 

that this form of adulteration has been a financial injury to these 
farmers. 

The Chairman. Is there any national law — do you think of any way 
to rejjulate this? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. There is no national law on the subject; abso- 
lutely none. The United States has no control in any way over the 
honey product, as it has over oleomargarine and filled cheese. These 
are both covered by law. 

The Chairman. These are the only two products covered by national 
laws? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. And the adulteration of iiour. These are the 
only three that have any Federal legislation by way of protection of 
the consumer and the honest producer, and this protection is given in 
the guise of a revenue law. 

The Chairman. Later on I shall ask you to advise the committee 
and the Senate as to legislation, but I want now your opinion as to 
whether the national laws governing flour, butter, and filled cheese, if 
properly and legally enforced, are effective for the purposes for which 
they were enacted. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. In my opinion the laws relating to the three 
classes of bodies you have mentioned, when properly and legally 
enforced, give sufficient protection, but food laws should not have for 
their object the raising of revenue. 

The Chairman. But what you said before as to the taxing of food 
products 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I repeat here. 

The Chairman. Yes. In other words, if people wish to buy wheat 
flour which is mixed, they ought to be protected without paying a tax 
on it! 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir; I think so. It is simply a question 
of economy. 

The Chairman. Now, have you finished; or do you care to say any- 
thing further in regard to honey? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. No, sir. I think 1 have covered that ground 
sufficiently. 

The Chairman. Along with the line of butter and cheese, have you 
analyzed and taken up the question of mixed lard"? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; I have made, many examinations and 
investigations on the question of lard. The chief form of the adulter- 
ation of lard is the mixing of vegetable oils or fats, and in using other 
animal fats in lieu of the fat of the hog. This mixed matter has been 
sold very extensively in the United States under the name of " refined 
lard," and in so far as I am able to judge by chemical and physiolog- 
ical investigation it is as wholesome as pure lard, but the vegetable oils 
and other fats being less expensive than pork fat, it is a fraud and 
intended to be such, so that the mixture can be sold at a larger profit 
than pure lard. There is, in mj^ opinion, no objection to the sale of any 
wholesome mixture of fats for culinary purposes if they are sold under 
their own names and brands. For instance, the cotton-seed stearin 
makes an excellent cooking material, and is preferred by many house- 
keepers on account of its being of vegetable origin, and the sale of this 
matter as such should not be restricted. It is only when it is sold as 
lard that it becomes fraudulent. The fat of the beef has also been 
largely mixed with lard, and this admixture is objectionable on the 
same grounds as those mentioned above. 



16 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Then I understaiid you to say that the mixing of the 
cottou-seed oil with lard is not deleterious to the public health, but is a 
commercial fraud 1 

Chief Chemist Wiley. That is the idea that I wish to convey. 

The Chairman. Is that mixture of cotton seed oil and lard carried 
on to a large extent in this country? 

Chief Cliemist Wiley. At the time that I made my investigation 
some time ago it was carried on to a very large extent. Just to what 
extent it is carried on at the ])resent time I am unable to state, but I 
imagine it is still a business of considerable magnitude. That is a 
matter of opinion, however, in regard to the present status. I might 
say this, in covering the whole ground of fats used as oil foods, that 
from a nutritive point of view all these fats and oils have nearly the 
same value as heat producers. They are exceptionally useful in the 
human economy, since the production of animal heat to maintain the 
l^ody at a normal temperature is one of the chief functions of diges- 
tion. In this resiiect, as I have just said, the various fats and oils are 
almost of an equal value. The butter fat has a heat value of a little 
over 9,000 calories per gram, while the fat of the oleomargarine — that 
is, beef fat — has a slightly higher heat-forming value. It appears ou 
the other hand, however, that butter fat is a little more easy of diges- 
tion, so that while the eleomargarine may produce more heat it may 
require a greater expenditure of energy to digest it. So that there is 
practically no difference in the value of these forms of fat in the animal 
economy. 

The Chairman. How as to cotton seed oil ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It has practically the same value as oleomar- 
garine for heat forming pur^^oses. 

The Chairman. It is easier of digestion, is it not ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is probably a little more easy of digestion. 
In regard to cotton-seed oil I might say there is another fraud prevalent 
which I have not mentioned — that is, the selling of this kind of oil for 
another vegetable oil, viz, olive oil. That has been very extensively 
practiced in this country. It is a well-known fact that hundreds of 
barrels of cotton-seed oil go to France and Italy and return to this 
country as olive oil or mixed with olive oil. Now, for the purposes of 
sale as far as food value is concerned, there can be no choice between 
these two bodies. Personally I prefer the flavor of the olive oil, but 
that is a matter of taste. ' I know i^eople who prefer the flavor of the 
cotton-seed oil, but cotton oil sells for only about one fifth the price of 
olive oil, and hence if it is sold as olive oil, as is done to a very large 
extent, the profit is enormous and the fraud is correspondingly great. 
Just now there seems to be some improvement in this matter, as I have 
noticed in the last few months the dealers have left the word ''olive" 
off of their bottles and are selling such oil as table oil, being careful 
not to put the name "cotton" on it. This is a fraud of great magni- 
tude, and affects our consumers rather than our producers, although in 
California we have a very large number of persons engaged in the 
production of olive oil, so it aflects our producers to a very large 
extent also. 

The Chairman. Looking at it from a national standpoint, you feel 
that we have enough citizens engaged in the manufacture of honest 
olive oil to give them protection? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. This is not a matter of principle, but of selfish 
gain. It is of sufficient magnitude to protect ourselves. This is the 
way I look at it. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 17 

The Chairman. You may state, if you please. Doctor, in your own 
way, the history and extent of the adulteration of foods which, in your 
opinion, are simply frauds upon the consumers and honest manufac- 
turers, and not especially deleterious to health — any food products. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Those I have given above, of course, belong 
to that class, and there are many others. I may say that the condi- 
ments which we buy are nearly all adulterated by being mixed with 
some inert and harmless substance, which makes it possible to sell them 
at a very much reduced price, and yet they are sold largely as pure 
articles. I refer now to all kinds of condiments and spices. For 
instance, ground mustard, and peppers which are ground, and other 
spices and condiments. For instance, nuistard has been suggested to 
me. This is so very often mixed with so much flour and turmeric, which 
gives it the yellow coloring similar to real mustard, that the quantity 
of pure mustard therein is almost a vanishing one. Just night before 
last I was using some ground mustard which looked very mild. I took 
half a teaspoonful and I could hardly get the least taste of mustard — 
there was only the least flavor of mustard in the whole mass. It con- 
sisted apparently of flour colored yellow with a little turmeric. This 
material as a flavoring matter is absolutely worthless, yet sold as j^ure 
mustard. You know no one could take a half a teaspoontul of mus- 
tard in the mouth with comfort. This is an illustration of what is 
practiced in condiments in general. It is very difficult to go at random 
into a store where these bodies are sold at the j)resent time and pur- 
chase one which you can be certain is jiure. Now the adulteration and 
mixing of these bodies with these matters I do not consider to be 
objectionable. In fact, many j)eople prefer to have their condiments 
reduced in strength in this way. The fraudulent part is the selling of 
the mixed article for the pure, and getting the price which the pure 
article would bring. Another point which may be mentioned in this 
matter is, that where these bodies are not ground, where they still have 
their original shape, as, for instance, in the case of coffee, they may still 
be adulterated. Very extensive adulterations of the unground colfee 
berry have been practiced. A little molasses and flour colored to suit, 
whether you are going to mix it with the roasted berry or the green 
berry, is molded to resemble in shape the cofitee berry. These artiflcial 
berries I have picked out of coffee purchased in the open market. As 
much as 25 per cent I have found to be artificial, but when mixed "with 
the i)ure berries no one would notice the false ones in buying. 

The Chairman. Is this so in the ground state? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Both ground and roasted; colored to suit. 

The Chairman. You mean, they take this flour and molasses, or 
whatever it is, and mix it by a process and mold it so it looks like a 
coffee berry ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes. Brown and green, unburned and 
burned artificial coffee berries have been found. 

The Chairman. Whereabouts in the market do you buy these? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. In the Washington market. Where they 
were made I do not know. Of course, anyone closely examining the 
lots would see the difference, but a hasty buyer does not stop to make 
a microscopic or other examination of the materials they get at the 
stores. These would pass without exciting any suspicion. 

The Chairman. So that in buying, the ordinary consumer, even 
though he goes to the trouble of buying coffee berries in the green, 
buying himself, is almost sure to be cheated"? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir; sometimes; but this adulteration 

F p— — 2 



18 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

is uot common. lu regard to ground coffees, tliey are ofteu adulter- 
ated with chicory. This is not injurious, and I, for one, rather like 
chicory mixed with coffee. It gives it body and richness of taste which 
the pure coifee does not have. In France, where they are celebrated 
for making good coffee, chicory is almost universally used in coffee. I 
object, however, to buying coffee for 40 cents a pound which is half 
or two-thirds chicory, which is worth only 8 cents a pound. I prefer 
buying the two separately and mixing them myself to suit my own 
taste. And so with this whole class of foods represented by coffee, 
spices, and condiments. Their adulterations have some natural justi- 
tications. The adulterations of this whole class of condiments and 
spices, including coffee and tea, are open, however, to this objection, 
that the innocent buyer who is not experienced is apt to be deceived 
in the matter. The adulteration of tea is not so common as that of the 
other members of the group. 

The Chairman. I want to be a little more specific in this matter, 
and in order. Take pepper. Is that adulterated ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Is it adulterated before grinding or in tlie process 
of grinding? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have never seen adulterated pepper before 
grinding. 

The Chairman. The pepper berry, as far as your observation goes, 
is not adulterated? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is not. If it is, I never have seen it. 

The Chairman. But in the process of grinding or after it is ground 
it is common to adulterate if? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is very common. I have a circular of what 
is called " fillers," which I can show the committee, consisting of ground 
inert matter colored to represent every form of spice and condiment 
that is on the market. These fillers are manufactured in large quanti- 
ties and sold to dealers in spices and condiments, so that any desired 
color can be imitated. 

The Chairman. Is that true as to pepper too? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. All spices. I have a series of fillers manu- 
factured by a firm which manufactures these fillers in large quantities, 
colored to imitate every form of spice on the market, so you can take 
your choice in mixing. 

The Chairman. They simply manufacture adulterants, or mixtures 
for these spices, and sell to the trade? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Where is that firm? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I can not recollect, but I think it is in Kan- 
sas City, 

The Chairman. Does that apply to cinnamon ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes. I do not think there is a spice that has 
not been adulterated in the ground state, or a condiment pf any kind. 
I do not think one has ever escaped. 

The Chairman. In this compound manufactured, what does the manu- 
facturer use by way of adulteration? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Sometimes ground shells, like peanut shells. 
This makes a very good light bro^n. The mere grinding of these 
shells is sufiicient. These are perfectly harmless, and cocoanut shells 
are harmless. 

The Chairman. Even though peanut shells are harmless, you would 
not prescribe them for a workiugman to eat? 



ADULTERATIOJN' OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 19 

Chief Chemist Wiley. iS"o; I would rather give him the inside of 
the shell than the shell itself. Flour is also used as an adulterant, 
colored with various coloring- materials, but turmeric more largely, per- 
haps, than any other substance. The manufacturers sell tliese x^roducts 
for what they are. The sale of these goods tor what they aie is perfectly 
legitimate. That is all we ask of them. 

The Chairman. It is whatever they produce. The inspection of the 
product itself is the only way to prevent the consummation of a fraud 
on the public. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes. The manufacturer becomes 2)ariiceps 
criminis, from a legal point of view, which I believe is objectionable to 
the court. 

The Chairman. Did you say, Doctor, that you had a circular or 
advertisement or samples showing the manufacturing of these adulter- 
ants by this lirm'i 

Chief Chemist Wiley. 1 have a full line of the materials whicli are 
furnished. 

The Chairman. There is no written advertisement that you remem- 
ber of! 

(/hief Chemist Wiley. Yes, I believe there is; but I have no copy. 

The Chairman. Would you be willing to let the committee see these 
samples? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Undoubtedly. Yes; I would be pleased to 
furnish them. 

The samples were subsequently produced, and consisted of the fol- 
lowing specimens: (1) filler for allspice and cloves; (2) filler for black 
pepper; (3) filler for cayenne i^epper; (4) filler for cinnamon ; (5) filler 
for ginger; (0) filler for mustard ; (7) fillei- for cream of tartar. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Fillers from 1 to (5, inclusive, consist of organic 
matter, ground shells of nuts, or flour colored to imitate the condiment 
for which it was intended. Filler No. 7, for cream of tartar, consists of 
infusorial earth. 

The Chairman. Are there other forms of adulteration you have 
studied ! For instance — 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Another form of adulteration which I have 
studied extensively in fermented beverages is the substitution of other 
bodies for malt in the manufacture of fermented beverages. Whether 
this can be regarded as an adulteration or not depends upon the point 
of view. There is a common impression to the effect that beer is an 
infusion made of malt and hoi)S and subjected subsequently to fermen- 
tation. If that be the true defination of beer, then the substitution of 
any body or bodies for malt or for hops would be an adulteration. But 
this form of adulteration is practiced almost universally in this country, 
even by the largest brewers, in making the cheaper forms of beer, 
although a great deal of pure beer is made by the same people. But 
there is a demand for a cheaper beer, which leads the brewer to sub- 
stitute for malt, barley, glucose, rice, and hominy grits. The latter are 
made from Indian corn. They are the more starchy portion of the 
grain, from which the hull and the kernel have been removed. The 
glucose or grape sugar substitutes are made in all large glucose fac- 
tories. And, m addition to these, rice is very commonly substituted 
for a portion of the malt where a very light beer, such as Pilsner, is 
desired ; and most of all, the substitution of grape sugar is practiced for 
a very cheap beer. In no case is beer ever made without some malt, 
but the amount of substitution may reach as high as 60 or 70 per cent; 
that is, a low grade of beer can be made consisting of 30 per cent malt 



20 ADULTERATION" OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and 70 per cent of tliis kind of substitution which I have just men- 
tioned. Glucose or grape sugar is substituted because that requires 
no action of diastase to prepare it for fermentation. It is already in 
condition to ferment, whereas hominy grits or rice must first be acted 
upon by diastase or malt before it can be fermented. Therefore it 
requires more malt for hominy grits or rice than where grape sugar or 
glucose is used. Glucose is a term usually applied to the liquid prod- 
ucts of the factory and grape sugar to the solid; and it is the latter 
substance which is always used in the brewery. In the manufacture 
of glucose or grape sugar the starch in this country is usually obtained 
from the grains of Indian corn, or maize. In Europe the potato is the 
source of the starch. 

The Chairman. That, on the whole. Doctor, is not deleterious to 
health? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. No, not necessarily; but the product is not 
pure beer. 

The Chairman. But is simply the substitution of a cheaper for a 
dearer article in the manufacture of beer ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Then you say these same breweries manufacture a 
malt beer, or beer that is defined in the better acceptation of the term? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Most of them do. They make a pure beer, 
which they get a higher price for. 

The Chairman. Is there any way that the ordinary layman, and not 
a professional man, who w^ants a glass of beer can tell the difference 
between a pure malt beer and a glucose beer? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I suppose the only way is to drink enough 
beer to become an expert. I do not know how a layman can tell. Pure 
malt beer has a better flavor, and to my mind is not so apt to produce 
acidity of the stomach or other digestive troubles. 

The Chairman. As a matter of fact, Doctor, they are expected to 
sell this glucose beer cheaper than the malt beer? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes ; cheaper than the pure malt beer. I will 
say this, Senator. I believe if you go to nine places out of ten where 
fermented beverages are sold you will get a substituted beer. There 
are certain brands of beer in the country — I do not want lo mention 
any names, as this is not an advertising place — that are pure. If you 
will call for these you will get pure beer. I think I can tell, every time, 
a pure beer from a substituted beer. 

The Chairman. You have during your experience analyzed these 
beers as a chemist? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; and I can tell the difference, in most 
cases, upon analysis. 

The Chairman. That has assisted you in being able to tell by the 
taste? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I should say that my analysis has been the 
principal test upon which I have relied. 

The Chairman. But the ordinary consumer of beer 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Unless he is a connoisseur it would be almost 
impossible for him to tell except by chemical analysis, which requires 
apparatus and chemical skill to be of any value. I would not like to say 
that the making of rice beer, which is an excellent beer, and hominy- 
grit beer, which is an excellent beer — I would not like to say that the 
making of these was fraudulent; but from one point of view it is. if we 
regard beer as made of the pure materials mentioned. In regard to 
hops, so far as I know in this country the use of a hop substitute is 



ADULTERATIOISr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 21 

not practiced at all. I do not believe there is any reputable maker of 
beer who uses a substitute for lioi)s. Some use cheaper hops, but prac- 
tically all use hops. This is illustrated when 1 say that the price of 
hops ranges from 77 cents to 17 cents a pound. There is a difference in 
the character of the hops. 

The Chairman. There is a difference f 

Chief Chemist Wtley. Yes, sir. So you see you can use a very infe- 
rior kind of hops in a low grade beer and very good hops in a high- 
grade beer. 

The Chairman. Do you know personally of any practice of putting 
acid in barrels of beer for the purpose of preserving it? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. That 1 will take up under the head of those 
adulterations which are injurious, but will answer now by saying that 
salicylic acid has sometimes been used for that purpose. 

1 would like to say something in regard to the materials used in a glu- 
cose factory and their use as foods. I have always found, from the time 
I first began to investigate food products, that the series of foods known 
as glucose or grape sugar, when i)roperly made, are valuable food mate- 
rials and not injurious. They are, however, to be used in their proper 
places and quantities, since it is certain that the consumption of too 
much of any one kind of food, even of a wholesome nature, may be injuri- 
ous. The following are some of the principal foods produced in the 
manufacture of glucose: First, the substance known as glucose, which 
is a water colorless sirup of different degrees of density. For making 
table sirups and mixing in honey, etc., the glucoses are boiled until 
they have a density of from 41° to 42'^ Beaume. When used for confec- 
tionery making the glucoses are boiled to a density of 45° Beaume. 

These glucoses consist of dextrin, a little maltose and dextrose, with 
a small per cent of other substances. When it is necessary to make a 
sugar for the use of brewers the starch from which the material is made 
is subjected to a higher degree of conversion, so that the residual prod- 
uct is almost entirely dextrose. Of this sugar various grades are 
made, according to the demands of the brewers. When dark beers are 
desired the sugars are a little colored, usually having caramel added to 
them to make them red. Where light beer is desired the sugars are 
almost white or quite so. These sugars are also made with various 
contents of water, sometimes having as high as 20 per cent water and 
at other times being almost anhydrous. I have seen as many as five 
different grades of sugar of this kind designed for brewers. In addi- 
tion to this the by-products are very valuable, and are used mostly as 
cattle foods. There is a product which has latelj^ come into prominence, 
and that is the oil which is extracted from the germ of the grain. 
This germ is separated and subjected to a great pressure, in the same 
way that cotton seed is treated for the expression of the oil. This corn 
oil is used for various purposes, and among others it is a partially dry- 
ing oil and has been used to adulterate linseed oil. When treated with 
sul[)hur this oil becomes a highly elastic mass, and has been used as a 
substitute for India rubber. It is thus seen that the products of the 
glucose factory are imjtortant when used for the genuine articles of 
human food and are very valuable. The glucose factoiies make also a 
high grade of starch, which is finely ground, and has been extensively 
used under the name of " flourine," for mixing with the Hour made trom 
wheat. This mixture is now controlled by an internal-revenue law, 
which places a tax upon the mixed article. About the only products 
of the glucose factory which are not sold as a substitute for some human 
food are the by products used for cattle food above mentioned. 



22 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 

The Chairman. What is a by-product? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is the residue obtained after the first prod- 
uct in view has been secured, as, for instance, in starch manufacture^ 
the hull of the grain — the bran, we call it; the more nitrogenous por- 
tion, which does not contain much starch, or none at all, aud very little 
sugar. Another illustration is the cake which results from the extrac- 
tion of tlie oil. This makes a very valuable cattle food. This cake, 
which is a residuum, is made by extracting the oil, and is also highly 
nutritious, and is quite as valuable as linseed or cotton cake. It is used 
for cattle food and for fertilizing purposes. 

The Chairman. Let me divert your attention just a moment to the 
adulteration of linseed oil. I had sn])posed it was absolutely impos- 
sible to adulterate linseed oil. In adulterating linseed oil they use the 
oil of the germ ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; they use the oil derived from the germ 
of the maize. 

The Chairman. And it is extracted by pressure, the same as the 
cotton-seed oil? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The same; exactly. 

The Chairman. What is this germ oil or corn oil worth, as compared 
with linseed oil? Which is the more valuable of the two, if bought 
separate ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Linseed oil is probably worth a great deal 
more. 

The Chairman. So that the mixture is only a fraud upon the market? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Well, I think the mixture is injurious to the 
linseed oil. The mixture is less valuable and not of as good quality. 
The linseed oil is rendered very much less valuable. 

The Chairman. That is, the mixed product. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes. Just the other day I was having my 
house painted. I said to the painter, "Is this pure linseed oil?" and 
he replied, "I do not think you can get a gallon of pure linseed oil iu 
the market, but it is as good as we can get." 

The Chairman. Could you, Doctor, if you had plenty of time and 
opportunity in your laboratory, detect the dirtereuce between the two 
oils? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Aud you would be willing to give us that time if the 
committee should ask for it? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You consider, as a matter of fact, that linseed oil or 
corn oil may be a food product; whether linseed oil is or not is quite 
another question ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Linseed oil is never used as a human food, 
but corn oil maybe, for instance, as a salad oil. 

The Chairman. I will take that up when there are more members of 
the committee present. 

You were going on to state, now, other articles of food that are 
adulterated, which are not necessarily deleterious to health. 

Chief Chemist Wiley, I might take up next the subject of jellies. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The old-fashioned pure jelly has almost gone 
out of use in the trade. These jellies are still made by the housewife 
directly from the fruits, but when purchased at a store they are more 
commonly of other origin. The gelatin of commerce is emjjloyed largely, 
and the fiavorings are artificial. 

The Chairman. Now, as we go along, let me ask you to state to the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 23 

comniittee how this gelatiu, which is an animal jjroduct — from what 
part of tlie animal is it produced, and how produced? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. All animal tissues, J think, without an excej)- 
tion, contain the elements of gelatin. They exist especially in the 
cartilage bones and hoofs. Gelatin as such does not exist in these 
bodies, but a substance called coHagen, a highly nutritious, nitrogenous 
product, which when heated in boiling water is converted into gelatin,, 
and by heating the tendons and bones of animals, especially the tendons, 
the highest grade is obtained which is used in human food. The hoofs 
and rougher portion form gelatin, which is used as glue. Now, this is 
an entirely ditferent substance from the jelly of fruit. The jelly of fruit 
belongs to the class of bodies known as pectin, and it is of the same 
family as sugar, and the same chemical centesimal composition as sugar. 
The gelatin of animals is a nitrogenous product and does not resemble 
in chemical composition the pectin or ])ectose of fruits. As far as the 
nutritive value is concerned the gelatin of animals is more valuable — 
has a higher nutritive value pound for pound. The gelatin in the 
artiiicial jellies simply gives the iiexibility, the tenacity of the mass, 
while the color and ilavor are made to imitate those of fruits. It is an 
artiiicial color and an artificial flavor, so that a great deal of the jellies 
now on sale, such as the wine jellies used as deserts, are absolutely 
innocent of having been derived from any kind of fruit wiiatever, with 
the possible exception of a dash of wine, and, of course, are much 
cheaper. As far as nutrition and wholesonieness is concerned I have 
nothing to say against them, but fraudulent in being much cheaper. 
Jellies are also largely made by utilizing tlie by-products of the a])}»le- 
<lrying and cider-making industry, the parings, cores, and pomace, 
trom v.'hich a certain amount of ])ectose bodies is obtained, which is 
fortified with glucose and flavored and colored to suit the taste. 

The Chairman. Doctor, have you had your attention called to the 
class of cheapjellies which are being i)ut u})on the market now — how 
the fruit acid is being substituted by a^ very strong acid, the name of 
which I can not call at this moment"? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have not had my attention called to it. 

The Chairman. Do you know what acid is used by way of substi- 
tution for the real"? 

Chief Chemist Wiley, Fruit acid is malic acid, but tartaric or citric 
acid is the one that would be substituted for such uses. Citric is the 
natural acid of lemons and oranges. 

The Chairman. What kind is produced from salt"? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Muriatic, or hydrochloric. 

The Chairman. Do you consider that a proper thing to use in jelly? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I should not consider a small ([uantity injuri- 
ous, because the acid which is produced in the stomach during diges- 
tion is always .muriatic, and not an organic, acid. 

The Chairman. You feel that, as far as you have analyzed at the 
present time, there should be some law to prevent their marking their 
artificial fruit jellies as pure fruit jellies"? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Undoubtedly. 

The Chairman. Because it is a fraud upon the consumer, and it is 
unfair competition with the honest manufacturer? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. And with the honest fruit growers. Both 
are valid arguments. 

The Chairman. You say you will be willing to take some samples, 
which 1 will give you here, and analyze them for the benefit of the 
committee later on "? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 



24 ADULTERATIOlvr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. 1 have no disposition to expose any honest manu- 
facturer, aud 1 am not seeking to get any trade secrets, but I am 
informed that the carrying on of these various practices has cheapened, 
the product, so that by the use of less gelatin and more of this very 
strong acid — I have forgotten the name of tlie acid — that they are able 
to make and put upon the market an article that is deleterious to health. 
I have been so informed. I want, however, to have you analyze some 
samples which 1 will give you, so that the committee may have the 
benefit of the actual analysis, as well as the opinion of people who come 
to talk to the committee. 

Vinegar is a matter about which considerable complaint has been 
made to me as chairman of this committee, and if it meets with your 
approval, Doctor, I would like to have you take that up now. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have studied vinegars extensively. We 
have right here a question of nomenclature which is rather important. 
In this country the common idea of vinegar is that it is made from fer- 
mented apple or fruit Juice. In Europe no such idea attaches to the 
term " vinegar," as vinegar is made almost exclusivelj^ by the fermen- 
tation and oxidation of grains. There are three classes of vinegars in 
the market — cider vinegar, alcohol vinegar, and malt vinegar. Each 
one of these, it seems to me, should be designated by the class to 
which it belongs. Cider vinegar is preferred in this country to all 
others, and would, if properly protected, bring a higher i)rice than all 
other vinegar. In the preparation of cider vinegar there is first a fer- 
mentation which converts the sugar into alcohol. Then we have hard 
cider. The next fermentation converts the alcohol into acetic acid. 
That is vinegar, aud is combined with all the extract material which 
the cider vinegar contains. Malt vinegar is made in the first instance 
just like beer, except that when fermentation is completed it is sub- 
jected to further fermentation in which the alcohol is converted into 
acetic acid. The acid principle is the same as in cider vinegar, but 
the extract with which it is associated is entirely diflerent. It is the 
extract of the grain of whatever kind used. Wheat and rye and 
Indian corn may be used, but in this (;ase we have no malic acid, but 
we have those aculs due to fermentation or peculiar to the grain. I 
should consider both of these jjroducts, therefore, as legitimate forms 
of vinegar. We have in this country an immense (piantity of still 
another form of vinegar, which is made by oxidizing the low wines of 
the distillery. This is a fermentation in whicli alcohol is converted 
into acetic acid. This is done by allowing the low wines to trickle 
over beech shavings and in this condition the oxidation goes on with 
great rapidity, so that low wines running into the top and trickling 
over beech shavings come out acetic acid. There we have a vinegar 
which has scarcely' anything in it at all but just acid and water. This 
vinegar is artificially colored, and probably a little dextrine or some 
other substance put in to give it body, and is sold as pure vinegar. 
You can not tell. You go to your table to day and pick up the vinegar, 
and you can not tell what you are getting. The chances are it is not 
cider vinegar. 

The Chairman. Cider vinegar is more valuable? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And more universally demanded in this country? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And if it was jiroperly protected there would be a 
greater demand, and it would probably bring a better price to the 
honest manufacturer — the men who raise the apples and make the 
cider. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 25 

Chief Cbemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. The malt viiiegar you say is cheaper vinegar, but 
not necessarily deleterious to health? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, cheaper, but not at all deleterious, yet 
not as palatable as cider vinegar. 

The Chairman. But the acid vinegar which is made — or the alcohol 
vinegar,rather,whichismadebythedrippingof thelow wines over beech 
shavings, produces acetic acid, wliich, being- diluted by water, and by 
using something to give it body, and colored, is sold for real vinegar? 

Chief (Jhemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Is that manufactured to a large extent? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir; very largely, and probably has more 
sale in this country than all other kinds put together. 

The Chairman. Do you consider it healthy? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir; all of these vinegars are wholesome, 
but the flavor is not as good as the flavor of the apple; the cider gives 
it a better flavor. You get an artificial flavor in the low-wine product. 
All I would ask in the law is that all vinegars should be sold under 
their projjer names; cider vinegar, malt vinegar, and low-wine vinegar, 
that being the order of their value, the low-wine vinegar being the 
cheapest. 

The Chairman. Do you know of any other way of manufacturing 
vinegar, either general or special ? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I do not think of any other way in practice. 
There may be, but of no commercial value. 

The Chairman. You would not consider that the vinegar made from 
the low wines and made into acid by dripping through beech shavings — 
if a person was accustomed to using large quantities of vinegar — you 
would not consider it beneficial to health ''. 

Chief Cheinist Wiley. I would not say it was injurious to health. 
It is only used as a condiment and for i)ickling. I would not consider 
it injurious to health in very small quantities. 

The Chairman. But you do say that it ought not to be allowed to 
be sold in competition with honest cider vinegar which would bring a 
much higher price — higher price by reason of the demand, and by rea- 
son of its flavor? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Pure cider vinegar merits a higher price. 

The Chairman. Well, I will ask you to state what is your experience 
and observation in regard to the adulteratiou of pickles? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Well, I never made any special investigation 
of pickles. What I would say would be perhaps regarding the use of 
vinegar and other condiments which are commonly sold as vinegar, and 
which are important ingredients in the making of pickles of commerce. 
We have pickled fruits of all kinds. We have cinnamon and cloves 
used for pickling. I imagine you refer to vinegar pickles. 

The Chairman. Y"es, sir. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Of course the large manufacturers would use 
the cheaper vinegar, and of course they would not use any coloring — 
simply the clear low-wine vinegar. They would not want to use a droj) 
of coloring matter in vinegar because it would interfere with the natural 
color of the pickles. W^hen you^ come to the other part of the subject 
I may refer to the use of zinc or copper in making pickles, but that 
would come under the head of deleterious substances. I do not see 
any objection to the use of low-wine vinegar in pickling. 

The committee adjourned 



26 ADULTERATION OP' FOOD PRODUCTS. 

May 3, 1S99. 
The committee met at 8 p. m. 

Present, Senator Mason (chairman) and Dr. II. W. Wiley, Chief 
Chemist, Department of Agriculture. 
Mr. Bernard A. Eckert appeared. 

STATEMENT OF MR. BERNARD A. ECKERT. 

The Chairman. What is your name, residence, and occupation? 

Mr. Eckert. Bernard A. Eckert; I am pitesident of the Eckert- 
Swan Milling Company. 

The Chairman. Are you a member of the organization known as 
the National Board of Trade? 

Mr. Eckert. I have been a delegate to the National Board of Trade 
from the Chicago Board of Trade. 

The Chairman. You are a member of the Chicago Board of Trade? 

Mr. Eckert. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Your business is that of the Eckert-Svvan Milling 
Company, engaged in the manufacture of flour? 

Mr. Eckert. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you in the last few years had experience in 
the manufacture of flour= — in competing with the sale of flour — which 
was sold as wheat flour, but which, as a matter of fact, was not wheat 
flour? 

Mr. Eckert. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Did your firm have any of the kind of flour to com- 
pete witli? 

Mr. Eckert. Yes, we had that kind of flour to compete with up to 
the time that the pure-flour bill — so called — was passed and went 
into eftect. 

The Chairman. I would like to liave you state for the benefit of 
the committee what eft'ect that bill has had — known as the pure-flour 
bill — upon the sale of pure flour, from the manufactui*er's standpoint. 

Mr. Eckert. The immediate effect, and I believe the last effect, is 
this, that while prior to the enactment of this law by Congress — I 
will go back, say, two or three years prior to that time — many millers, 
as well as dealers in flour, mixed foi-eign substances with wheat flour 
and sold it for pure flour — sold it under their regular brands. It was 
done not only by the millers, but by the flour dealers, who had 
machinery in their establishments for mixing it; and while in man}" 
instances it was mixed with foreign substances that were not delete- 
rious, yet it was in the nature of a commercial fraud upon the public. 
It was sold as pure flour, when it contained cheaper ingredients tiiat 
were not worth near as much as pure wheat flour. It was not only 
injuring the honest millers in this country and per]3etrating a fraud 
upon the consumer, but it also began to militate against the Ameri- 
can millers. Shipments of flour had been inspected in other coun- 
tries and found to contain foreign substances and rejected, and they 
began to feel that the American millers were adulterating: their flour, 
and they were agitating the question of making laws to exclude the 
American-manufactured flour, or at least adojit a rigid system of 
inspection, so that ultimately it might aft'ect seriously and materially 
the amount of flour we ought to export to foreign countries. I might 
say in this connection that in 1806 we expoi'ted al>out 10,000,000 bar- 
rels from this country, and since the law went into ett'ect, and since 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 27 

the people on the other side have been reassured that our flour was 
pure, our exports luive been very large. In fact, we have reason to 
believe that this year our export of American-manufactured flour will 
exceed 15,000,000 barrels. 

The Chairman. That will be an increase of 5,000,000 barrels, won't 
it, between the year 1896 and this? 

Mr. ECKERT. Yes, sir. It may all be due to this cause, but I tliink 
some of it is due to the fact that the people feel that there is a Gov- 
ernment suj)ervision over the American-manufactured flour, and that 
wluitever they use for wheat flour is Aviieat flour, and pure, unless 
otherwise labeled. 

The Chairman. Have you had any correspondence with the people 
to whom you export flour, expressing any opinion? 

Mr. ECKERT. Yes; we have received letters from some of our corre- 
spondents in wdiich they say that they are very much gratified because 
Congress had enacted such a law, and they are now expressing them- 
selves as well j)leased that they can purchase American-manufactured 
flour wi'th the assurance that it will be pure wheat flour. 

The Chairman. Well, then, do you feel, Mr. Eckert, that if the 
present law is thoroughlj'^ and legally enforced, that it will give pro- 
tection to the honest manufactui'er, protect our consumers, and also 
be the proper recommendation for our export trade? 

Mr. Eckert. I do. I think it is an excellent law. 

The Chairman. Have you anj^ suggestions as to amendments in 
any way? 

Mr. Eckert. Well, there will be only minor amendments. I do not 
know as I am prepared at this time to suggest any amendments. I 
believe the law ought to remain upon the statute books, with, per- 
haps, the few slight amendments, to exclude, possibly, baking powder 
that is put up in small packages. 

The Chairman. There have been some requests from people who 
mix what is called " self -rising flour." 

Mr. Eckert. Well, I am not prepared to make any suggestions. 
You say that the law ought to be made so as to let them out. It might 
lead to the abuse of the law. They might put up flour in packages 
and call it self-rising flour, and in that way impjose ui)on the public. 
However, I am not i)rex)ared now to sny definitely. 

The Chairman. 1 will say to you for the committee that if it occurs 
to you that there are any hardships that can be remedied by amend- 
ment, the matter will be taken up for discussion during the ijendency 
of the next attempt to amend the war-revenue act; and if you have 
any suggestions to make, the committee will be very glad to have it 
put in the shape of a letter and have it embodied in your testimony. 

Mr. Eckert. I think that to-day every honest miller and every 
honest dealer in this land feels that this law has accomplished what 
was souglit to accomplish. When the bill was introduced I felt that 
the American people 

The Chairman. And it certainly is not a hardshij) upon anyone to 
mark their flour for what it is? 

Mr. Eckert. No, sir. It is required now that when thej" mix wheat 
flour with some other substances it ought to be labeled, so that the 
consumer will know just exactl^y what he eats. I do not know of any 
act that has given as general satisfaction, as far as I can learn, as the 
pure-food law. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Do you think there is any surreptitious mix- 
ing of this flour going on now — where the law is disregarded entirely? 



28 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. EcKERT. I have not heard of any such thing. It might possiblj' 
be. I have not heard any complaint at all. Well, Doctor, an expert 
for the Government testified that there had been a shipment of 10,000 
barrels of flour which had been surreptitiouslj' mixed by a company 
in North Carolina, which was made of mineraline, which is another 
name for terriana. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The good effect is due to the publicity? 

Mr. EcKERT. The good effect is due to the fact that the law imposes 
upon the people mixing flour that they brand it under the penalty 
attached. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. So that the tax does not cut much figure? 

Mr. ECKERT. The tax cuts no figure at all. It is the fact that v\'hat 
they do is made public rather than the tax that is required to be paid. 



STATEMENT OF CHIEF CHEMIST WILEY— Recalled. 

The Chairman. At the time of the adjournment this morning you 
had enumerated quite a number of articles which were merely con- 
sidered fraudulent and not of necessity deleterious to the public health. 
Do 3^ou now at this moment recall any others of that class which you 
did not mention this morning? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Well, I did not begin, of course, to cover the 
whole range of adulteration. I only mentioned types whicli cover 
pretty well the whole. 

The Chairman. I would like to direct your attention to the ques- 
tion of sirups. You have had occasion to chemicallj^ anah'ze sirups? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes. The manufacture of table sirups is 
one which engages quite a large capital in this country and is quite 
an important business. The old-fashioned table sirups were made 
directly from the maple tree, sugar cane, or sorghum without admix- 
ture. Tlien gradually the custom came into vogue of using the 
molasses that comes from the preparation of sugar as table sii-ups — 
that is, the juices were boiled first to get the pure sugar crj^stallized ; 
then these were put into a hogshead to drain or into a centrifugal, 
and the molasses therefrom became a very common article of table 
sirups. For instance, the old-fashioned, open-kettle method was used 
in the manufacture of a ver}^ fine table sirup, using the sugar-cane 
juice, which was boiled in an ojjen kettle, and the sirup set aside until 
crystallized and the whole put in hogsheads with perforated bottoms, 
a little straw being laid over the bottom to stop the holes and retain 
the sugar. The hogshead was placed in an upright position, and in 
a few days or weeks the molasses would run out by gravity, making 
a most excellent article of table sirup. The small farmer formerly 
made an immense quantity of sirup from sorghum by boiling the juice 
down and converting it into molasses. But other large quantities were 
made from the maple orchard, which was the old-fashioned, genuine 
maple molasses or sirup. Soon, however, a number of artificial proc- 
esses came into vogue, so that a large number of the sirups were made 
from glucose, the glucose being artificially colored by mixing with 
highly colored sugarhouse molasses, as the common idea of sirup is 
that it is of a yellow or amber color. It therefore became necessary to 
color the glucose, and for this purpose tlie refuse of sugar refineries 
was employed ver^^ largel.y, so that 5 gallons of refuse and 45 gallons 
of glucose would make a barrel of table sirup having a slightly amber 
color and the flavor of the sugar sirup to a great extent. Tliis very 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 29 

common article of sirup was sold the country over, and is still, and 
often sold under fancy names. 

The Chairman. Under fancy names'? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; as " Golden Drip" and "Honey Drip" 
and "Honey Sirup," and a dozen different names. I never heard of 
its being- sold under the name of glucose or mixed glucose, and the 
people imagine they are getting a high grade of sugar-cane sirup, 
when in fact they are getting a very low grade of molasses, which 
could not be made into anything else. These goods are sold at fancy 
prices. A clear sirup with a light amber tint will always bring a 
higher price, no matter what it 's made of. The high price of maple 
sirup leads to its artificial fabrication, and artificial maple sirup 
resembling the real is used to a more or less extent in this country. 
The common method of making artificial maple sirup in this country 
is to mix it with glucose or, better, with melted brown sugar. Maple 
sirups are very limpid, and the addition of glucose is apt to make 
them stick3^ The manufacturers melt a yellow sugar from the refin- 
eries which gives a degree of thinness like maple sirup. This is 
flavored with an extract of hickory bark or some similar substance, 
which gives it a flavor similar to the maple flavor, and thousands of 
barrels of "Pure Vermont maple sirup" have been made at Daven- 
port, Iowa, and other localities where a maple tree never grew, except 
when planted upon the street. These artificial sirups are sold exten- 
sively in this country, and the farther you get fi-om Vermont the 
cheaper and more abundant they become. 

The Chairman. Have these extracts of hickory bark — so you con- 
sider this healthy and good for the system? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I do not think them deleterious. 

The Chairman. When used in such small quantities? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; the flavors of the maple sirups are 
sometimes similar to that which exists in hickory bark, but this flavor- 
ing substance is not a sugar. The value of the maple sirup is not 
alone in the sugar it contains, but in this peculiar flavoring substance, 
such as the chemists call an "ether," which exists in minute quanti- 
ties and gives that flavor and odor which the people are willing to 
pay their money for. It is the flavoring matter which makes the 
price. No one ever heard' of refined maple sirup. Refining would 
take from it the flavoring matter and diminish its price. 

The Chairman. Do they adulterate the solid cakes of maple sugar? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; that is also done very extensively. 
The yellow sugar from the refineries is melted in. I have no per- 
sonal knowledge of this and can not say positively, but this fact can 
be established when the committee sits in Boston, where the dealers 
in maple sugar can be brought before the committee. The practice, 
however, of adulterating in Vermont is not very extensive. The farm- 
ers there, and I have personal knowledge, are mostly perfectly honest 
and sell the genuine article; but there is no doubt of the fact that 
there are mixers even in the State of Vermont, where these adulter- 
ants are put in. Even the chemist is not useful in this case, since 
the amount of flavoring matter is so small that it can not be esti- 
mated by chemical means. The chemist is practically helpless. 

The Chairman. Before it is put in the mold it has to be crystal- 
lized? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The maple sugar is boiled until it gets 
ready for crystallization, then it is poured into a mold, where it 
solidifies and crystallizes. If you would pass this material through 



30 ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

boneblack you would have ordinary sugar, which you would have to 
sell for about 44^ cents a pound. If you leave it in the raw state you 
can get 8 or 10 cents a pound for it. Now, in regard to the nutritive 
value and wholesomeness of these table sirups I have no criticism to 
make at all. Only a general law which would operate, as the last 
witness has said, requiring publicity, would secure perfect indemnity 
from fraud, and would have the same effect as the law regarding 
mixed flour. 

The Chairman. Have you in the course of your experience ana- 
lyzed any confectionery? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Very extensively. 

The Chairman. I wish you would state for the benefit of the com- 
mittee the chemical history of confectionery in the United States, 
what it is composed of, and give general remarks concerning it, as 
you have of other manufactured products. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Perhaps a general answer to that question 
would include almost every known substance, because there is no 
definition of pure confectionery. A confection is what the manufac- 
turers choose to make it. They use sugar in all confectionery, because 
the sw^eet taste is what makes it confectionery. The sugar, when 
used, is almost ahvays, I think, reasonably pure and wholesome, but 
sugar alone would make only a brittle confectionery, and that is not 
desired in all cases. It is necessary often that it be soft and waxy, 
or have any other property that the trade might demand, and hence 
the manufacturers strive to meet the demand. For instance, a con- 
fection like the marshmallow would naturally contain glucose, gela- 
tin, and often flour to give it the consistency and color desired, and 
flavoring is added to give it the peculiar flavor and odor. And the 
caramels, of which several kinds are made, require burnt sugar. 
Some contain chocolate, and some also contain glucose, and sometimes 
flour or starch, which latter is preferred often to flour as being freer 
from protein substances; also flavoring matter, containing various 
chemical substances. The use of an injiocuous coloring matter is 
also very important. Some people prefer white candy. When I was 
a small boy my idea of beauty and happiness was a stick of candy 
seasoned with cinnamon and with a red stripe running around it like 
a barber pole. In fact, coloring in confectionery appeals as much to 
the individual's own taste as to anything else, so that the manufac- 
turers of confectionery have studied the aesthetic part, and some of 
the most pleasing tints have been incorporated in confectionery, 
appealing to the eye as well as to the taste. I have made a verj^ care- 
ful investigation of these coloring matters. Occasionally poisonous 
ones are used, but since publicity was first given to the matter, some 
ten years ago, this evil has been mitigated, and I doubt if you can find 
a single poisonous material used at the present time. 

A coloring of aniline dye or of some harmless vegetable substance 
is used. 

There is no necessity for a dealer in confectionery to use a poisonous 
dye, because he can get the tint desired with a perfectly harmless one, 
and the difference is very minute from a financial standpoint. Min- 
eral coloring has been ' almost tabooed. Chromate of lead has been 
employed to give a yellow tint. This has gone out of use now, and 
out of about 100 kinds of colored confectionery which I examined 
in my laboratory I onlj^ found 2 of mineral origin. All the rest 
were of animal or vegetable origin, and none of them poisonous. Now, 
as to th mineral ones. I do not know that the use of mineral matter 



ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 31 

for coloring is praetieed at all to any extent in confectioneiy. The 
manufaetiirersof confectioneiy have been very successful in secnring 
harmless material. I think verj' few of the coloring materials used 
will prove injurious when used in small quantities. I think you will 
find the National Confectioners' Association ready to aid you in every- 
way to secure a law which would forbid the use of anj^ injurious col- 
oring materials in confectionery. The starch, the glucose, the sugar, 
the flour, the chocolate, the burnt sugar, and the gelatins which are 
used in confectionery are certainly not to be condemned, but the use 
of terra alba or other mineral matters in small quantities, even if not 
poisonous, are to be condemned. They are much more injurious than 
substances of vegetable origin I have mentioned, especially to chil- 
dren. There is a natural taste, especially in young children, for these 
sweeter materials, and those of vegetable origin should be used because 
thej^ aid in the growth of the body. They furnish the heat and 
the adipose tissue. The idea that sugar should be condemned is 
erroneous. These sweets are actually nutritious. Late exj^eriments 
made in the German army showed that sugar was useful as a ration. 
Where soldiers are to live two or three days on small rations and 
endure the strain of a hard march, little pellets of sugar can be car- 
ried in the pocket and serve to keep uj) strength and are an aid to 
health. They are nutritious when used even in small quantities. 
There is one habit indulged in by some confectioners which should be 
prohibited by law, and that is the mixing of alcoholic material with 
confectionery. 

I have hacl occasion to examine gum drops and other materials in 
which a drop of brandy or alcohol was mixed in, and by breaking it 
open one could detect it. That is extremely rej)rehensible, especially 
for children. The flavoring materials used in confections are of vege- 
table and synthetical origin. Some of the ethereal oils are used in 
small quantities as flavoring; for instance, the oils of cinnamon and 
cloves. These in minute quantities are not injurious. The chemist 
also furnishes large quantities of synthetic flavoring bodies. These, 
as made by the chemist, resemble or are almost identical with those 
flavoring materials occurring in fruits and flowers. Those occurring 
in nature are made by nature and the others are made by chemists, 
and actually in some cases can be made much cheaper. The chemist 
can make them so cheaply that these flavorings are supplanting the 
natural ones. It seems to me that where artificial flavorings are 
employed the consumer should know it, because there are stomachs 
that are very delicate and are injured by the artificial product, 
although the chemicals seem to be identical with the natural ones, so 
that to protect idiosyncrasies of this kind and in justice to the natural 
extracts as well as to the synthetic ones it seems only fair that the 
whole truth in regard to them sliould be known. 

The Chairman. I want to ask you about this substance known as 
terra alba. What do you mean by it, Doctor? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Terra alba is a term applied to a number of 
white mineral products. The term itself is Latin, and means "white 
earth." 

The Chairman. That is used largely, is it not, in confectionery? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; it has been, and perhaps still is in 
some eases. That is the reason that I said that all mineral materials 
should be forbidden. It is used instead of starch and to increase 
weight. 

The Chairman. It adds to its weight? 



32 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. It has also been used in the adul- 
teration of flour. Lately in North Carolina a factory has been 
operated in producing this terra alba. Any white earth may be called 
terra alba; for instance, kaolin, which is a perfectly white clay. 

The Chairman. Did you ever have submitted to you the product 
of this factory that you spoke of, known as raineraline? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes ; I referred to that. I have samples now, 
both ground and unground. 

The Chairman. That is absolutely insoluble in the stomach? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir; undoubtedly so. It serves as a 
mechanical impediment and is injurious to that extent. It loads the 
stomach up with a dead weight. 

The Chairman. Have you observed in j-our analyses the use of 
barytes? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is also sold as terra alba. It is known 
as sulphate of barium. It is very heavy and of high specific gravity, 
so that a given amount of it will weigh more than any other white 
earth that is known. I have never found it in a food product, but it 
is used largely in adulterating paints. 

The Chairman. To use plain language, what is it? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is a compound of barium and sulphuric 
acid. 

The Chairman. Is it ground stone? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; it is a stone — a mineral which makes 
a perfectly white jaowder, absolutely insoluble, even in the strongest 
acid. You could not dissolve it in muriatic acid. 

The Chairman. You have applied the test, so that j^ou know that 
this barytes is insoluble in the strongest acid? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir; the only way to dissolve it is to 
fuse it in a white heat with caustic alkalies. It is very similar to 
terra alba, that being the generic term for all kinds of white fine- 
ground minerals. 

There is another thing that has been used in flour which is also per- 
fectlj^ white, and it is also used in confectionery. 

The Chairman. What is that? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is sulphate of lime, Barytes is sulphate 
of barium and gypsum is sulphate of lime, and when ground makes a 
perfectly white powder that is partially soluble in water and dilute 
acid and is used in confectionery and also as an adulterant in flour. 

The Chairman. Now, you have mentioned the use of mineral dyes 
and barytes, terra alba and mineraline, and alcohol. Do you know 
of any other special ingredients that are used for the adulteration of 
confectionery? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. No; I know of none. 

The Chairman. You think you have named all? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Practically all have been mentioned. 

The Chairman. You have named those which you consider com- 
mercial deceits and those which are deleterious to health? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; I have mentioned both. 

The Chairman. And now, to epitomize, I understood j^ou to say 
that mineral and some aniline dyes were deleterious to health ; that 
mineraline, terra alba in all forms, and alcohol should be excluded 
from confectionery. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, for the reasons I have stated. 

The committee adjourned. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 33 

Thursday, May 4., 1899. 
The committee met at 10 a. m. 

Present, Senator Mason (chairman) and Chief Chemist Wiley. 
Mr. I. Giles Lewis appeared. 

STATEMENTS OF MR. I. GILES LEWIS, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows : 

The Chairman. What is your business, Mr. Lewis. 

Mr. Lewis. I am a wholesale druggist, at 92 Lake street. 

Tlie Chairman. Mr. Lewis, I have asked you to come before this 
committee to answer some general questions in regard to food adul- 
terations, because I have been informed that you have made this 
matter a study for years, and I desire to get the benefit of your expe- 
rience, and I will ask for some suggestions from you as to the national 
pure-food law. You say that you know that food is adulterated. 
What is the object of the adulteration of food? 

Mr. Lewis. The object of the adulteration of food is to enhance its 
value by giving it a semblance of what it is not. 

The Chairman. This resolution that has been passed by the Senate 
recites that there are certain classes of adulterations which are sim- 
ply frauds upon the consumer, and another class which are not simply 
frauds, but are deleterious to health. What have you to say about 
this? 

Mr. Lewis. Well, you have stated that there are two classes of 
adulterations. One is to give the food an appearance that will add 
to its value, like the coloring of butter and cheese, and the adding of 
harmless coloring matter to various kinds of liquors by using that 
sort which the generally accepted taste of the community seems to 
demand. These adulterations are harmless and to a certain extent 
beneficial, because they j)lease the eye and in that way satisfy in a 
general way the peojple. The other class of adulterations are used 
to sophisticate the product and give it a fictitious value. This sophis- 
tication may be divided into two heads — the adulterations which are 
themselves injurious, and the adulterations which are used which are 
in themselves inert. I might define that more clearly, perhaps. The 
addition of suljjhuric acid to vinegar would be injurious. The addi- 
tion of a pure quality of material of what we call "spent" spices, 
which have their sense of oil taken out, or buckwheat hulls, which 
have a semblance of pepper — these in themselves are inert. I mean 
by that harmless. 

The Chairman. You mean harmless? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes. They have no virtue in themselves, but they 
increase the bulk and weight of the material adulterated, and in that 
way give it the appearance of value which it does not possess. 

The Chairman. Mr. Lewis, you have given some thought and 
attention to the preserving of foods. You know generally about it? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes. 

The Chairman. Please state for the benefit of the committee 
whether in the preservation of foods there are any adulterants used, 
either inert or harmful. 

Mr. Lewis. There are four general ways of preserving foods. The 
first is by heat, embracing roasting or in any way raising the temper- 
ature so as to keep the particles of food from acting upon each other; 
the second is by cold, which accomplishes this same purpose in an 
F p 3 



34 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

opposite way ; the tliird is by drying, wliicli produces the same result 
by excluding the water; andt he fourth, which is the general subject 
under consideration, is by the addition of some substance in liquid 
form which accomplishes this result. 

The Chairman, Then I understand you to say, or do you say, that 
there are preservatives that may be used which are harmless? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes. The general rule laid down is this: Anything that 
is used for the preserving of foods which itself enters into the animal 
economy is a harmless preservative, as it is absorbed at the same time 
that tlie food is digested. The ordinary materials for this purpose are 
alcohol, sugar, salt, and vinegar. Now, salt and certain condiments 
like pepper and other spices do not come under tlie general rule, but 
they have by custom become articles of general use, and are an excep- 
tion to the rule because they promote the absorption of the food by 
increasing the flow of digestive fermentation, and while they may be 
harmful in large quantities, in the way in which they are used they 
are really beneficial. 

The Chairman. You have examined, as I understand, Mr. Lewis, 
the laws of other countries upon the subject of food adulteration and 
know in a general way what is restricted as far as the use of antiseptics 
is concerned. Will you give that for the benefit of the committee? 

Mr. Lewis. Well, the general unprinted law is substantially to 
exclude anything from use in preserving foods which I have not already 
mentioned, and in some countries — Germany and France, for instance — 
these laws are very stringent and make it a penal ofi'ense for any vio- 
lation, because they regard the matter of pure food for the people as 
one of prime importance. 

The Chairman. Do you know of any country in the world except 
our own — that is, any civilized country — that does not have some 
general law for the protection of the consumer? 

Mr. Lewis. I have not looked into any except the general laws of 
France and Germany. The other countries follow in their wake 
usually. They have given the most attention to it. 

The Chairman. For the benefit of the committee, which one of the 
general laws do j^ou consider the best to protect the honest manufac- 
turer and at the same time protect the consumer when he goes to buy, 
so that in buying he gets what he pa3^s for? 

Mr. Lewis. The English law is unquestionably the best food law, 
because the English law makes the provisions general, not only for the 
food to be consumed at home but for food for export. The German 
laws and the French laws make an exception in the preparation of food 
from materials which are exported and allow antiseptics to go to foreign 
countries which would not be allowed to be used at home. 

The Chairman. Then I understand you to say that we are receiving 
into this country to-day manufactured goods, food products, from 
foreign countries which could not be sold in their own country? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes; this is especially noticeable in cheap German 
wines and French wines and all products which are not of the high 
class and bottled and prepared at home. This is particularly notice- 
able in low-grade products, which are usually sold to the poor. The 
high-grade products, which the rich pay any price for, of course, are 
guaranteed by trade-marks, etc., and it would not be any object for 
the people who produce them to put any antiseptics in them. These 
antiseptics have become a very close stud}^ as most of them are very 
difficult to determine. 

The Chairman. I understand, then, that, for instance, Germany can 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 35 

sell, without let or hindrance, in this country certain articles of food 
products that her people could not sell in her own country, and as a 
rule it is a cheaper grade of these products, like a cheap wine? 

Mr. Lewis. Cheap wine and beer. Germans are very particular 
about the quality of their beer. It seems to be almost necessary in 
passing through tlie Tropics tliat those products which have very little 
alcohol in tliem sJiould have some other i^reservative in them to keep 
them. While the German Government would not allow these at home, 
they would allow them to be used abroad. 

The Chairman. Does the English law protect the English people 
against that sort of thing? 

Mr. Lev^is. Yes; it does. It in a way corrects this way of doing. 
It compels the manufacturer to put upon his labels exactly what the 
articles contain, and in this way the law rather oversteps itself, 
because many of the things which a manufacturer might hesitate to 
put on his formula onto the packages, as some little inert substances, 
might give character to his preparation which might be injurious to 
his business. For instance, the preparation of mustard. In England, 
under this law, Coleman, who makes the best mustard, undoubtedly, 
in the world, was compelled to put on his high-grade mustard that 
it contained flour, which was absolutely necessary to preserve the 
mustard and insure its delicate flavor when put in water. 

The Chairman. In other words, the flour was reallj^ put in to pre- 
serve the mustard and prevent the loss of flavor, but, being a foreign 
substance, under the English law he has to mark it "mixed" or 
"adulterated?" 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. From your commercial study and learning, which 
do you think is the best law? 

Mr. Lewis. The English law, by all means. 

The Chairman. In what way do they compel the marking of their 
goods? 

Mr. Lewis. Well, every label must truthfully represent what the 
package contains in a general wa3^ 

The Chairman. Is the law enforced? 

Mr. Lewis. That I can not say. I have never looked into that part 
of it. 

The Chairman. Do they have a special food commission? 

Mr. Lewis. I think it is one of the departments of the Government. 
That I have not looked into. That is the legal part of it, which does 
not concern me. 

The Chairman. I want just general information. 

Mr. Lewis, That comes in the legal department of the Government. 

The Chairman. Do they require the stamping by revenue stamps 
of any food products? 

Mr. Lewis. No, sir. 

The Chairman. They raise no revenue, as you understand? 

Mr. Lewis. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Does the Government issue any sort of a certificate? 

Mr. Lewis. No. 

The Chairman. Just a police regulation? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes. That is where the English Government, when 
viewed from our standpoint, is rather lame, because the English peo- 
ple do not as a rule export foods. They export manufactured articles 
rather than foods. Their principal export of foods is condiments. 



36 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You have given the matter a great deal of thought. 
Do you favor a national i^u re-food law? 

Mr. Lev^is. Yes, sir; I think it is of great importance if properly- 
drawn up. I should not favor a national pure-food law along the gen- 
eral lines of the State food laws which we have. 

The Chairman. Have you examined the State law of Illinois? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; not as closely as I have the other laws. I 
understand it is modeled after the other State laws. 

The Chairman. This is true, that a manufacturer, say, at Chicago, 
is liable to ship one article into one State which would be acceptable 
under the State law, say, of Michigan, and wholly unacceptable in the 
State of Iowa? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes; many manufacturers to a great extent prepare 
their products so as to meet the requirements of the laws of the sev- 
eral States. 

The Chairman. The Government of the United States now has no 
national law affecting the manufacture of i^ure food, except in so far 
as it applies to cheese and butter and flour? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you understand, do you, the general provisions 
of these laws? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It compels the manufacturers of oleomargarine to 
put on revenue stamps and it is under the control of the Government, 
and the same way with mixed flour which has heretofore been sold 
as wheat flour? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions to make to the committee 
as to a general pure-food law? 

Mr. Lewis. Well, I feel that the object of the pure-food law is two- 
fold. It is to prevent the marketing of anything as an article of food 
which will be injurious to the people, and to punish anything of this 
sort, if necessary, in order to accomplish this result. On the other 
hand, the better object of a pure-food law, it seems to me, would be 
to make it an inducement for the manufacturer to raise his standard 
to such a grade that the food would be acceptable not only here but in 
any part of the world. 

The Chairman. How would you encourage the manufacturers to do 
that, and what inducements would you offer as a matter of law to have 
that done? 

Mr. Lewis. Well, as I said in the first place, there are harmful and 
harmless adulterants. Now, to what extent an adulterant can be 
harmful, where the line should be drawn when it is harmful in mate- 
rials, can not be fixed by a regular law, but should be determined by 
a regular commission of people versed on such subjects. For instance, 
there can certainly be no harm in using small quantities of alum to 
make cucumber pickles hard, and in that way keep it in a proper state 
before it is consumed. At the same time there will certainly be a great 
harm in allowing alum to be used as a preservative in pickling instead 
of salted vinegar. A point like this should be determined by a com- 
mission. When corn, for instance, is put up in a can in its natural 
state it might be necessary to use a slight amount of antiseptic in the 
beginning, so as to prevent that corn from souring in the can, and 
while that antiseptic itself is not necessary it is more desirable than 
to have corn sour before it is eaten, and to j ust wliat extent these things 
should be used should be determined by intelligent people, our object 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 37 

being to raise the standard in foods and make them acceptable and 
palatable when they reach the consumer. 

The Chairman. In what way would you suggest to give the con- 
sumer notice as to what he is buying? You spoke, for instance, of 
alum; you would not object to having anj^thing preserved in alum. 
Your point is based upon the accepted theory that alum is deleterious 
to health. Now, how would j^ou give notice that it was there, and how 
would you give notice to the consumer that it was not there? 

Mr. Lewis. I hardly think that is necessary. If there is sufficient 
confidence in the commission that took that thing in charge it would 
hardly be necessary to go into particulars. They are used in such 
small quantities the whole does not cut anj' figure. At the same time, 
under tlie strict interpretation of the law, a small quantity would cut 
as much figure as a large quantity. 

The Chairman. There are other articles of food. Take baking 
powder. Large quantities of alum are used in baking powder. Is 
that, in your opinion, deleterious to health? 

Mr. Lewis. Certainly so. 

The Chairman. You think that is true. How would you as a con- 
sumer, under tlie suggestions you make, know which is an alum bak- 
ing powder and which was a pure cream of tartar baking powder, for 
instance? 

Mr. Lewis. If alum is an integral pai't of the baking powder, it cer- 
tainly should be so labeled, and I hardl}^ think the food commission 
w^ould give it its sanction. 

The Chairman. Do you mean to take the can, and by having a 
Government employee know what is put in, certify to it? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, certainly. To know what is put in. We were 
speaking of alum. If the commission should decide that alum was 
deleterious to health, then the Government could not give its guaranty 
to a package as being one which was i3ure food. 

The Chairman. Now, how would you frame a bill so that the Gov- 
ernment could give a guaranty? I have before me a sample called 
"Golden Glory Fanc}^ Table Sirup." " Sirup contains 80 per cent 
corn sirup, 20 per cent sugar sirup." What I want to know is this: 
Would you have a Government certificate on each package? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes; I would in the first place have a commission of 
men, of experts, who had actual facilities for getting the proper infor- 
mation which they wanted. Then that commission should, at the 
request of any manufacturer, appoint a custodian for the factory, the 
manufacturers themselves paying the cost of the custodian, and that 
custodian should have the authority to issue labels numbered consecu- 
tively, so that thej^ could keei) track of it, and those labels should be 
put upon the proclucts of the manufacturer who has this custodian; 
this custodian to have access to all books and workings of the con- 
cern and to be able to thoroughly acquaint himself with everything 
that is being done. When points would come up which the custodian 
was not clear on, he could reserve his opinion until the commission 
had decided what to do. In this way every product would go out 
with a certain established grade, which now it does not have, and the 
people buying would know exactly what it contained. I might say 
that nearly all the food products, with the exception of the crude 
materials, go out on the market in cans, and the value of the canned 
product now depends upon the known reputation of the man who puts 
it up. In the other way the value of the product would have a cer- 
tain guaranty by the Government as to its value, and this would be 



38 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

enhanced more than the cost of this operation. Especially would this 
be of value in foreign countries as well as in the local markets where 
the manufacturers are not so well known. 

The Chairman, In other words, then, you would in a general way, 
where there is a man manufacturing an article of food in good faith, 
have the Government, at a slight exjjense, which would be borne by 
the manufacturers, certify to the purity of the importation and actual 
condition of the stock? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; the wholesome condition of the stock. This 
commission also would be of great value to the consumer if it would 
examine the requirements of the foreign market and issue bulletins of 
what was required, as they do at the Agricultural Department. I 
give an example of that in the collection by the Government of the 
whisky tax where it demands certain requirements in order to collect 
the revenue and that draws the line between whisky that is mixed 
and not mixed. That itself enhances the value of two-stamp whisky 
over whisky which bears one stamp. Two-stamp whisk}'- is worth 
more. Two-stamp whisky is bought partly on the brand and partly 
on the fact that the two stamps show when the whisky was made and 
how old it is, while whisky that only bears one stamp depends upon 
the reputation of the man under whose brand it is sent out. I men- 
tion this as an example. 

The Chairman. In other words, the Government gives a certificate 
as to the age of the goods, and the age of the goods determines 
largely its value? 

Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; its value. 

The Chairman, Your idea would be to have food products like this 
practically under the supervision of the Government, and the stamps 
would bear the date of when it was prepared, so a man bujang green 
corn would know whether 

Mr. Lewis. He got this year's corn or corn 3 or 4 years old, and he 
himself could determine. 

The Chairman. I have not read the English law, but is that, in a 
general way, the plan under the English law? 

Mr. Lewis. No. These matters that I have been stating lately are 
matters of my own suggestion. 

The Chairman. You would recommend from your own experience 
and study — you would recommend a national commission, to be, natu- 
rally, under the Department of Agriculture? 

Mr, Lewis. I would not say the Department of Agriculture. This 
commission should be really under a department of commerce. 

The Chairman. We have none. 

Mr. Lewis. The Department of Agriculture is now rather top-heavy. 
The bulletins they send out, some of them, are very fine, but others, 
like Edward Atkinson's on cooking foods, do not reflect very much 
credit on Mr. Atkinson or the Government, if they did pay several 
thousand dollars for it. The Department of Agriculture is overbur- 
dened with this sort of thing. This really comes under the depart- 
ment of commerce. 

The Chairman. Of course, if there was a department of commerce. 

Mr. Lewis. The object of this food inspection is as much to enhance 
the value of food abroad as to protect the consumers of food at home. 

The Chairman. It is a well-known fact in articles we have produced 
in our own country, like oleomargarine and flour and cheese, that it 
has increased the demand of our goods. 

Mr. Lewis. It has enhanced the value of our goods abroad, and I 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 39 

think that the food law should so be framed that anyone should have 
the privilege of buying any kind of food he wants. If he wants a food 
without a guarantee, and is willing to take his own judgment for it, 
he should be at liberty to do so. He should not be compelled to take 
a Government guarantee, because there are many small manufacturers 
that can not afford to employ a Government custodian, where a local 
reputation would be all that they would want for wnat goods they pro- 
duced. In other words, this custodian business is merely a voluntary 
affair. One could have it or not, as he wished. 

The Chairman. You know, for instance, we began our meat inspec- 
tion years ago. There was a great demand for meat, because there 
was a certain guarantee by the Government that our pork did not 
have any trichina in it; and your idea would be to pass a national law 
creating a commission which would in fact advance trade and com- 
merce, and either give character or certify to the lack of character, 
and refuse to give a Government certificate to goods which were either 
frauds or deleterious to the public health? 

Mr, Lewis. Yes. It would do a great deal of good. Goods, unless 
properly inspected, would not bring near the price they do now, and 
people would not depend upon the character of the shipper or his 
representatives. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything else you would like to 
suggest to the committee? You have given this matter years of 
thought and attention, and we people have not. 

Mr. Lewis. I do not like to instruct. I believe that the quality of 
the food we eat has as much to do with our morals, or more, than the 
< 1 uality of the literature we absorb. I think this is a generally accepted 
theory. 

Dr. Wiley, You suggested something in regard to the relation of 
the Department of Agriculture with this work. The Department of 
Agriculture for the last twenty years has been devoting a large part 
of its time to the investigation of these subjects. It has a thoroughly 
equipped corps of scientific experts who would be ready to assist in 
the enforcement of a law of this kind. There is no other Department, 
unless it would be the department of commerce, which does not exist, 
so much interested in the pure-food subject, and it seems to me under 
the present organization of the Government the enforcement of a law 
of this kind woidd naturallj^ fall to the Department of Agriculture. 

Mr. Lewis. My experience with the Department of Agriculture was 
based simply upon what had come to my knowledge as to what it was 
doing. It did not seem to me that a Department that was sending 
out bulletins, such as it has sent out, could take any more of it. The 
Department of Agriculture of the United States has, within the last 
ten years, made more study in regard to the improving of the country 
than has been known in agriculture since the time of St. Francis. 
Agriculture originally began with the Monks, and their self-sacrifice 
is what gave impetus to agriculture. As the Agricultural Department 
has sent out so many bulletins which are so fine, it does not seem to 
me that they could do any more. 

Dr. Wiley. We do not feel yet like we are exhausted. 

Mr, Lewis. Take for instance the instructions the Department of 
Agriculture has given in the matter of engineering; in the plowing 
of the ground in a drought, which has reclaimed millions of acres; 
how to plow the ground so that the water would not wash the soil off. 
This has been intensely valuable. 



40 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS 



STATEMENT OF DR. H. W. WILEY— Recalled. 

The Chairman. When we adjourned yesterday afternoon, Doctor, 
you had, I think, about completed the list of foods that were adulter- 
ated, under the class known as simj)ly commercial frauds and not 
necessarily deleterious to health. Do you think of any others that 
you would like to speak of in that class? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The subject of the adulteration of meat and 
fish I did not speak of at all, and it might as well come in here. The 
sale of one kind of fish for another, a cheaper fish for a dearer fish, 
especially when they are packed in oil, is very objectionable. I am 
not enough of an ichthj^ologist to tell the kinds of fish apart that look 
alike, but the sale of fish like the sardine for the sardine itself is not 
an uncommon practice, and the stamping of boxes with foreign 
stamps is not an uncommon practice. The sale of horse flesh in 
many parts of Europe has become quite a common thing, and it is 
not always sold as horse flesh. Whether horse flesh has ever been 
sold in this country for human food I do not know, but I presume it 
has been. Horses are slaughtered for human food in this country, 
and their carcasses inspected by officials of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, Whether used in this country or not I could not give any 
positive testimony on. It would be very easj^ to palm off horse flesh 
for beef, especially for the coarser kinds of beef. It would take a 
microscopic or chemical examination to determine the difference 
between the two. The sale of English sparrows for reed birds is not 
an uncommon thing, and in the same way many other birds that 
resemble game birds of high value. The sale of one kind of duck for 
another — that is, a high-priced duck for a low-priced duck — and other 
turtles for terrapin is often done in restaurants and markets where 
the people do not know terrapin by sight. The}^ are not well enough 
versed in natural history to do that. These are the kinds of frauds I 
have been speaking of — not injurious to health, but commercial 
frauds. 

The next line. Senator, that I would like to call attention to is the 
case of wines. I had a very remarkable illustration in my own expe- 
rience only about six months ago. I was commissioned by the Secre- 
tary of Agriculture to obtain samples of all wines and beers and other 
beverages imported into this country from Germany, and to do this 
one of my assistants visited the custom-houses and the large importers. 
The importers were visited incognito, but the custom-houses we had 
free access to. We took samples of nearly all kinds that were brought 
in from one country. We wished to compare these saiiiples with those 
in the hands of the wholesale and retail dealers. At one place my 
assistant applied for claret. The man said yes, he had lots of it, and 
showed large quantities. He asked me how much we wanted. My 
assistant said, "About two cases." "Well, all right; what label shall 
I put on it?" He offered, in substance, to take Chateau Lafitte, Bur- 
gundy, and Bordeaux all out of the same cask and label them to suit. 
It was all of the same nature. People who desire a certain kind of 
wine, as St. Julien, prefer that well-known variety to all others, do 
not care to obtain a wine of less value, so that the fraud consists in 
the marking of wines with brands which they should not have. This 
is a practice which is very much in vogue and extremelj^ reprehensi- 
ble. Our California friends are not entirely without sin in this mat- 
ter, and the}^ have adopted bodily the foreign name in some instances, 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 41 

SO that you can buy Liebfraumilcli and Johannisberger and Rudes- 
heimer anywhere along the Sonoma Valley. They do not put foreign 
labels on, however, and they do give the name of the vineyards where 
they are made, but they name them after well-known foreign varieties. 
Whether or not this is exactly honest I will leave to the conscience 
of the dealers. It seems to me the word " California," or some name 
which has become known as distinctive of the finest wine, or some 
other distinguishing name should be placed, as Sonoma Rudesheimer. 
That would be honest and would not detract from the flavor of the 
wine. In the same wi\y they make sherry and port and Moselle wines. 
In California they call them by these names, and there is no objec- 
tion to this if their California origin is also stated, so that in buying 
wine, unless j^ou can detect by the name the place where they are 
originally grown and bottled, you are altogether certain that you are 
getting what the label calls for. 

The Chairman. That has gotten to the question as to what are sold 
as frauds or as a fraud upon consumer, without due notice of what he 
is buying? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Without due notice; jes, sir. I never in 
this country have gone to a dealer yet that would not tell me exactly 
where he got his wines, where they were made and put up, if you 
would ask him. People do not take that trouble. Go into a restau- 
rant and order a bottle of wine, and you do not feel like asking that 
a marriage certificate be brought with it. It is eas}^ enough to have 
bottles brought in sprinkled with coal dust, so as to have the appear- 
ance of having been in the cellar for years. I have seen dust fresh 
looking, as though it had been put on for the occasion. 

The Chairman. Now, Doctor, I want to direct your attention to — I 
wish you would give the committee the benefit of your experience 
and information as to the extent to which food products are adulter- 
ated and are deleterious to health, in your opinion as a chemist and 
physician. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The extent of adulteration with materials 
deleterious to health is not by any means so extensive as the other 
form of adulteration to which I have already alluded. As I said yes- 
terday, there is scarcely any object of human food which has not at 
some time or other or in some country or other been adulterated. 
The actual amount of adulteration in the market, however, is very 
small. For instance, I might go to a store to-day and buy 100 food 
articles at random, unless they w^ere ground spices or ground coffee — 
but I mean ordinary staple food — and scarcely 5 per cent would be 
adulterated. If you should buy spices and ground coffee and the 
like, the percentage of adulteration might be very high. In regard 
to those which are injurious to health, they are confined mostly, in 
the first place, to coloring materials as one class and preservatives as 
the second. Practically all food adulterations injurious to health may 
be grouped in these two classes. I will take them up in order. P'irst, 
coloring materials. The eye is to be pleased as well as the palate 
with food. A table which is beautifully spread with artistic effects, 
a white linen cloth, and a few floral decorations always appeals to the 
eye and gives pleasure to the diner. So it is with foods. We have 
come to associate with the different articles of food certain tints or 
colors. 

A food that is perfectly white would not appeal to your desire if 
changed to any other color, and many foods are naturally green in 
color, and these foods appeal to you most when they are green. 



42 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Others are j^ellow or safifron, as butter, and others still of mixed col- 
ors. Even our flesh and fowl and fish have tints that are distinctive. 
Thus a cook who understands his business not only seeks to produce 
a palatable dish, but one which will at once appeal to the senses 
through the eye. This is not a mere aesthetic feeling. It has a physi- 
ological importance, and the mere sight of food in attractive colors 
will start the flow of our digestive juices. The mouth waters, as the 
saying is, and so does the stomach, the liver, and the pancreas. All 
are excited to their utmost activity by the sight of food, and if this 
food looks appetizing it will render the flow of digestive juices 
stronger, and the digestion which follows is speedier and more per- 
fect. These things ajjpeal to the taste in its figurative sense, and the 
question, it seems to me, of sesthetics should be considered in the 
process of digestion. Many foods in the course of preservation tend 
to lose their natural colors, and so the manufacturers seek to restore 
or preserve these colors. This is particularly true of green goods 
which are preserved, like peas and beans and cucumbers and other 
things, in which the chlorophyll coloring materials should be kept 
intact. The green of these goods is fixed by certain chemicals, so 
that the tints will not lose their freshness and turn yellow. The 
chlorophyll is turned into xanthophyll, and thus these bodies lose their 
appetizing appearance and assume a yellow or tawny hue. Now, 
there is a chemical method of fixing chlorophyll so that it will not 
become yellowish, and the substances which are used for this purpose 
are poisonous. They are principally zinc and copper compounds. 
Salts of zinc and salts of copper, when added to the green materials, 
such as peas, preserve the natural green of the peas, as a mordant 
preserves the color in a piece of cloth by fixing the colors in the tis- 
sues. It is not the color of salts that are added which is seen in 
products, as most j)eople suppose. 

Zinc salts, which are perfectly white, have the same effect as copper 
salts. It is not the added coloring material which is sought for here, 
but it is the material which will fix and hold the green matter in the 
tissues of the preserved food, so that after the packages are opened the 
green color is as pronounced as it was at first, and the pease and beans 
come onto the table with the bright green that is so much desired. 
The amount of zinc or copper necessary to fix this color is very small, 
and most healthy stomachs could eat the ordinary quantity which is 
consumed by an individual without suffering any discomfiture what- 
ever, and do it repeatedly. As far as I am concerned I do not object 
to eating preserved green peas; I like them. I know what they have 
in them. Manj^ people, on the other hand, they do hurt, and the least 
possible amount upsets the digestion. If these materials are present 
this fact should be so stamped on the package, and the person can tell 
for himself how much he can eat, if any, and no fraud is practiced. 

The Chairman. As I understand, your evidence is that while this 
coloring with copper and zinc may be injurious to some stomachs, it 
is not very deleterious to others, and you class that coloring as one of 
the objects that ought to be regulated on the ground that it is delete- 
rious to health. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Regulated, but not prohibited. While on the 
subject of sterilized vegetable substances ("canned" is the ordinary 
term), I might add that poisonous and deleterious substances are 
often found in them, put there by accident, not on purpose. For 
instance, the solder which is used for sealing cans is composed mostly 
of lead and tin. It is an alloy. Both of these bodies are poisonous, 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 43 

I have found little pellets of solder dropped in during the process of 
sealing. These are acted upon by the acids of the vegetables or fruits 
and soluble salts of lead and tin are formed. Again, what we call tin, 
as you know, is sheet iron washed with tin. Now, this tin is often 
itself adulterated. I have found as high as 13 per cent of lead in it, 
and it becomes to some extent lead plate. Such materials as this used 
for making packages should be prohibited. 

The Germans have a law saying what amount of lead may be pres- 
ent. It is almost impossible to get tin free from lead, and there ought 
to be a regulation as to what amount of lead may be permitted, since 
an excess of it causes a kind of poisoning which is commonly known 
as "painter's colic." In sealing or soldering it is necessary to apply 
a substance which protects the metal from oxidization when the heated 
iron is applied, so that the solder will stick to the metal. Many things 
are used. Muriatic acid is one of them. The tinners take a piece of 
cloth, which is often pretty dirty, saturate it with muriatic acid and 
swab around with it, and often a drop or sometimes more of this acid 
runs into the food. 

While on the subject of coloring materials I would like to say some- 
thing in regard to the facing of tea. The green color of tea is often 
secured by the addition of a coloring material, and tea is made heavier 
by mineral substances. Sometimes sulphate of lime and sometimes sul- 
phate of barium is added in such a way that it sticks to the leaf and 
gives it a better appearance and a greater weight. Prussian blue, 
indigo, turmeric, plumbago, and soapstone are also used. The finest 
teas are ver}^ often adulterated and colored in this way. This may be 
carried to such an extent as to be injurious. 

Now, the second class of bodies injurious to health comprises pre- 
servatives. There are three waj^s of preserving food products. One 
is b}^ sterilization, which is the ordinary canning process; the second 
is by a low temperature, as in cold storage; and the third is bj^ the use 
of chemicals which prevent the action of the decomposing germs. 
Decay in all organic matters, and that includes food stuffs, is not pro- 
duced by oxidization, as was formerly supposed, but all decay is due 
to the working of ferments, and these are of several kinds. If, now, 
you can defer this fermentation or suspend this action or paralyze the 
organisms, you can secure the preservation of the food product. To 
destroy these organisms sterilization is practiced, because all the 
organisms are killed at a certain temperature. Therefore, if any 
organic substance like food products be kept for a certain length of 
time at a sterilizing temperature, like that of boiling water, the organ- 
isms are completely killed. 

Now, the spores from which the organisms come endure a higher 
temperature than the organisms themselves, and therefore you may 
kill all the living organisms by sterilization and the spores remain 
vital, and after a few. days may develop new organisms. Therefore 
the sterilization is often continued longer than necessary to kill the 
organisms, which is done at once, as soon as the water reaches the boiling 
point, or successive sterilizations are practiced. This is the safer way, 
viz : To sterilize to-day and set aside, and when time has been given to 
develop new colonies of germs or ferments a second sterilization is 
practiced. It is not necessary to exclude the air from sterilized foods 
to preserve them. If you would, in a can of goods like this [indicat- 
ing], leave the mouth entirely open and simply put a tuft of cotton 
over the mouth and sterilize it all together, the food would keep just 
as well and the germs in the external air will not be harmful. 



44 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The second metliod of preserving foods that I enumerated was the 
suspension of the action of the germs or ferments by cold. This is 
done by lowering the temperature. As you approach the freezing 
point the activity of all germs becomes lessened and you speedily 
reach a temperature at which the activity of the ferments is entirely 
suspended, so that organic matter can be kept indefinitely at a low 
temperature without decay. Cold storage is the method employed 
artificially or natural cold in winter is sometimes employed. A great 
many ferments cease their activity before you reach the freezing point, 
others only at the freezing point or below, but there is a temperature 
easily reached where all ferments are in a state of suspended anima- 
tion. That is the theory of cold storage. 

The third method of preserving organic substances is by paralyzing 
the ferments. This is done by chemical reagents, called by the gen- 
eral name of antiseptics. These antiseptics are large in number. I 
saw the Senator (Chairman Mason) using one in his coffee yesterday 
morning. That was saccharin. It is an excellent paralyzer, and a 
sufficient quantity of it would arrest the digestion completely. It has 
been used very extensively as a food preservative. The use of anti- 
septics which arrest the process of digestion is prohibited in most 
European states. The most common antiseptic is salicylic acid. A 
few years ago salicylic acid was derived b}^ a very costly process from 
the willow. Hence its name, from the name of the willow {salix). As 
long as it was obtained by this process it did not have much vogue as 
a preservative because of its cost. About a quarter of a century ago, 
a little longer perhaps, a German chemist b}^ the name of Kolbe dis- 
covered a pi'ocess of making salicylic acid from carbolic acid by a 
simple chemical treatment, so now it is a very cheap product, and has 
been more extensively used in food preserving than any other one 
substance. 

The Chairman. Do you consider it deleterious to health? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is very deleterious to health. There is no 
preservative which paralyzes the ferments which create decay that 
does not at the same time paralj^ze to an equal degree the ferments 
that produce digestion. So the very fact that any substance preserves 
food from decay shows that it is not fit to enter the stomach, especially 
if the stomach be delicate and digestion be feeble. Most stomachs 
can take a little salicylic acid or sulphurous acid with impunity, because 
they have plenty of pepsin to spare, but when the flow of pepsin is 
insufficient or deficient in quality, a little disturbance of this kind 
interferes very seriously with the digestive process; therefore I main- 
tain that no food should ever be offered for sale which contains a 
preservative without that fact being plainly marked upon it. I do 
not believe in prohibiting the use of preservatives, as they are often 
desirable in certain articles of food. For instance, take catsup, which 
comes in bottles of various sizes. Verj^ few families are large enough 
to eat a whole bottle at a meal, so the common practice is to open a 
bottle of catsup for a meal and use it the next meal, and sometimes 
use it for weeks. This material would not keep twenty-four hours 
without some preservative being added. In 99 cases out of 100 it con- 
tains salicylic acid. It is just the same with poor unfortunate grape 
juice — such as is used in churches for communion service. It is now 
generally made of salicylic acid and a little bit of grape juice. You 
can very seldom find it composed of pure fruit juice. 

The Chairman. Is it used in preserving beer? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It has been used veiy largely in preserving 



I 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 45 

beer, both in the wood and in the bottle, especially if the beer after 
going into the trade is to be kept for a long time. You do not find it 
in cold-storage breweries, because they do not need it there; but beers, 
unless they are to be consumed within ten days or two weeks after 
bottling, must either be sterilized, which is the preferable plan, or they 
must have some preservative. If these beers are subjected to an ordi- 
narily high temperature, such as we have here in the summer time, they 
would speedily disintegrate and lose their flavor, and wdien opened 
have an excess of gas. The dealers almost all recognize the necessity 
for the use of preservatives in beers intended for domestic consump- 
tion when sterilization is not practiced. It is not possible always to 
sell beer promptly. The erection of bottling establishments in all 
large places provides for the keeping of beer until ready for use, and 
avoids the necessitj^ of preserving it artificially. Salicylic acid is not 
now often found in beer, and this has been the case since attention 
was called in the report made about ten years ago to the harmf ulness 
of salicjdic acid in beer — the report of the Agricultural Department 
on beverages — and dealers take pride in telling their customers now 
that their beers are free from salicylic acid. This custom of using 
preservatives has been in very great vogue in the past and is still 
practiced to some extent. Wines as well often contain salicylic acid, 
and some other high-grade beverages. 

The Chairman. Well, Doctor, then I understand you to say that 
salicylic acid is a product of carbolic acid? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Made from carbolic acid — creosote — that 
itself is a preservative. Salicylic acid has no odor and scarcely any 
taste, and therefore is preferred to creosote as a food preservative. 

The Chairman. In j^our opinion, every package of food that is pre- 
served in that way ought to be marked for the benefit of the con- 
sumer? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Marked, not prohibited — simply marked. 
There are other preservatives in common use. Borax is used in 
butter and milk and cream. There is a common opinion that thunder 
sours milk. It has really nothing to do with souring milk, but the 
conditions which obtain in a thunderstorm are those in which milk 
ferments grow with the greatest rapidity, and therefore it happens 
that in this condition milk turns sour more rapidly than in any other, 
and hence it is a common impression that it is due to the thunder. 

And then there are preservatives of a gaseous nature, as formalde- 
hyde, or, as known by the trade name, "formalin," These substances 
can either be used in a gaseous state or when dissolved in water, and a 
solution is made, and this is sold in the trade, A few weeks ago a 
man in Illinois sent me a package obtained from a peddler going 
through the countrj^ selling a material to keej) milk sweet. It was 
called "Milk Sweet." It was about a 1^ per cent solution of formal- 
dehyde. This man could take one bottle and sell it to the farmers 
at that rate and make a profit of about 3,000 per cent. He was selling 
it all over the State, There is no objection to its use by those who 
like it. However, I would not want to drink much milk containing 
it, for it paralyzes the digestive ferments. It is not desirable. There 
is one other preservative often used in butter, and that is boric acid, 
or borax. The above-named bodies are types of food preservatives. 

I do not think. Senator, that any manufacturer deliberatelj^ puts 
poisonous bodies into food because they are poisons. Nobody wants 
to do that. These bodies are not jioison, like morphine or str3"chnine, 
and do not attack the nerve centers or paralyze them. They are 



46 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

poisons because they act upon the digestive organs and interfere with 
the digestive process. They are not in the ordinary sense poisons. 
There is no special action upon the nerve centers, as in the case of 
hydrocyanic acid or prussic acid, as it is called, a dose of which kills 
like a gunshot. This is one of the most rapid poisons known. These 
preservatives are not poisons like strychnine, which kills in ten or 
twenty minutes. These drugs are poisonous in another sense, simply 
being injurious to health and digestive processes. Now, the digestion 
begins the very minute the food enters the mouth. The starch in 
foods is acted upon by the saliva, changing it into sugar, so that if I 
take these preservative materials in the mouth they start at once to 
interfere with digestion. In chewing starchy food you fail to get the 
full eifect of the digestion without this action of the saliva. The 
saliva will often in thirty seconds change starch into sugar, so that if 
you chew jour potatoes or bread for thirty seconds or a minute j^^ou 
get practically all the nourishment there is in it as far as the starch is 
concerned. Now, when it comes to your meat, you can swallow it 
whole. Chewing it does no good except mechanically. Meat is not 
digested in the mouth. Meat-eating animals digest their food in the 
stomach. The carnivora swallow their food whole, while the herbi- 
vorous animals chew their food sometimes twice over, as is the case 
with the ruminants. 

The Chairman. Now, Doctor, I want to direct your attention to 
the article alum. What is it? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. There are various forms of alum. It is a 
double salt, of which alumina is one of the bases, and the other base 
is either ammonia or potash or some other metallic oxide. The alum 
part of the name, of course, is derived from the alumina in all cases. 

The Chairman. Is that a healthy thing for our stomachs? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Alum is an irritant. It is to some extent 
an antiseptic and tends to paralyze the germs or ferments of digestion. 
It is poison in the sense of being an irritant, but not to such a great 
extent as many irritants. It irritates the contents of the stomach, and 
its presence in food is very reprehensible, even in small quantities. 

The Chairman. Have you had occasion to examine any food prod- 
ucts that contain alum? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have examined baking powders which con- 
tain alum — powders used for leavening bread. 

The Chairman. Do you say that it is reprehensible to use it in this 
way? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I would say the same of this as I have said 
of salicylic acid. Many stomachs can take a little alum without harm 
at all, but I think its presence in food should always be marked and 
known. It is sometimes used in bread making, where yeast is used, to 
whiten the bread. 

The Chairman. Do you find alum in baking powder? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you examined any baking powder lately? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Not for perhaps two or three years. 

The Chairman. How many different samples do you think you 
have analyzed? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Two or three hundred ; perhaps 500. 

The Chairman. What is alum used for in baking powders? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is used to free the carbon dioxide from 
the bicarbonate of soda. Baking powder, as j^ou know, is a chemical 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 47 

mixture which when wet or heated, or both, evolves carbonic acid — 
the same gas you get absorbed in so-called soda water. 

The Chairman. And all baking powder is deleterious to health? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I would not say that. 

The Chairman. What is alum substituted for? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is substituted for cream of tartar or for 
acid phosphate. There are three types of baking powder, all of them 
being alike in having bicarbonate of soda for the purj)ose of furnish- 
ing the gas. There is one in which cream of tartar is used and acid 
potassium tartrate— — • 

The Chairman. What is cream of tartar made from? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. From grapes. It is prepared from the solid 
material which settles in casks and bottles of wine called argols. 
It is the acid principle of tlie grape. 

The Chairman. Do you consider this form of acid proper to use 
and healthy? 

Chief Cliemist Wiley. I would not say it was wholesome in excess, 
and I would not say it was injurious. It is practically a vegetable 
substance, being derived from grapes, and tartaric acid is an organic 
acid. 

The Chairman. Well, .do you think that baking powder containing 
alum should be so nuirked on the cans, so that the people buying 
could know? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. All baking powders should be marked to 
show their constitution; not one kind any more than another. 

The Chairman. If one was deleterious to health and the other was 
not, you would want to have the person so notified, so he would know 
what he was getting? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Undoubtedly. I should favor a general food 
law, requiring that things be sold for what they are. A man who sells 
baking powder should state what it is, what kind it is, whether cream 
of tartar baking powder or acid phosphate baking powder or alum 
baking powder. The purchaser then can take his choice. I would 
not say that alum powders should be absolutely prohibited, but those 
who use them should do so knowingly. 

The committee adjourned. 



Chicago, June 7, 1899. 
I am somewhat surprised to see statements that borax and salicylic acid can be 
used without harm. 

Drugs are forces and can not be introduced into the system without doing vio- 
lence to the bodily organs. 

I send you the inclosed clipping from the London Lancet, one of the highest 
authorities in medicine. I could cite other effects than those noted. Drugs are 
not foods and foods are not drugs. Each should be kept separate. 
Yours, very truly, 

T. C. Duncan, M. D. 
Hon. W. E. Mason, 

Chairman Pure Food Investigating Committee. 

BORIC ACID intoxication. 

R. B. Wild, after citing a number of cases, including some of his own, distin- 
guishes two forms of intoxication from boric acid — one in which a large quantity 
of the drug is rapidly absorbed from the alimentary canal, from a serous or other 
cavity, or from an extensive raw surface: in these cases vomiting and diarrhea, 
general depression, and partial paralysis of the nervous and muscular systems 
occur, and may cause death. A rash was noted in many instances, especially 
when the patient recovered or lived some days after the absorption of the drug. 



48' 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 



The other class of cases results from the administration of boric acid or borax in 
comparatively small doses for long periods, and the sympt( ms appear at a varia- 
ble time after the commencement of the drug. In some of these cases it is men- 
tioned that the kidneys were diseased, and the author gives as a possible reason 
for the immunity to the injurious effects of boric acid its very rapid elimination 
by healthy kidneys. 

Furthermore, it is possible that cases of intoxication occur more frequently than 
is at present recognized. Boric acid may unwittingly be taken in food and cause 
a toxic skin eruption which may be mistaken for eczema, psoriasis, or exfoliative 
dermatitis. 

It may be noted that a 1:500 solution corresponds to a 17: 5 grams per pint of the 
acid, a very large dose for an infant on milk diet and one likely in some cases to 
produce disturbance of the alimentary canal. It should also be ascertained that 
the milk ordered in cases of kidney disease is free from excess of boric acid or 
borax. The use of boric acid or the borates in surgery and their internal admin- 
istration ought to be carefully guarded in patients with diseased kidneys, and 
immediately discontinued on the appearance of dermatitis or other toxic symp- 
toms. In suspected cases examination of the uriue may afford valuable evidence 
of the presence of the drug. (The Lancet.) 



Chicago, May 20, 1899. 

The Coffee Exchange of the City of New York, a recognized authority on coffee 
transactions, has separated the coffees dealt in into various grades or qualities, 
rangmg from No. 1, the highest, to No. 9, the lowest quality recognized by the 
exchange. 

These standards are the basis of all importations of Brazil coffees into the United 
States, which embrace five-eighths of the total coffee importations to this country. 

An analysis of the five lowest standards is herewith presented. It will be noted 
that owing to the damaged berries averaging smaller than the sound the per- 
centage is greater by count than by weight. 



New York 

Coffee 
Exchange 
standards. 


Weight of 

sound berries 

in 1 pound. 


Number of 

sound berries 

in 1 pound. 


Weight of 
damaged ber- 
ries in 
1 pound. 


Number of 
damaged ber- 
ries in 
1 pound. 


Present 
value 
invoice 
lots ( per 
pound). 


Cost of 
sound 
coffee, 
basis 

present 
value 
(per 

pound). 


No.5 


Ounces. 
151 
151 
15 
14i 
12* 
3 to 5 


Per 
cent. 
97i 
96 
94 
88f 
80 


Count. 
2,961 
3,006 
3,794 
3,160 
2,914 


Per 

cent. 
97 
95 
94 

83* 
70 


Ounces. 

1 

i' 
I 

11 to 13 


Per 
cent. 

Zi 
4' 
6 

Hi 

20 


Count. 

85 

130 

317 

545 

1,220 


Per 

cent. 

3 

4| 
8* 

30 


Cents. 

7 

S! 
f 

5 


Cents. 
7.168 


No. 6 


6.995 


No. 7 - 


6.933 


No.8 


6.980 


No.9 


7.680 




20.000 



















All transactions on this exchange are based on No. 7, the exchange fixing the 
differences on the different grades above or below No. 7, which at the present 
time are 50 points (one-half cent), but owing to the enormous demand from pack- 
ers of low-grade coffee for a low-priced article the street or market differences are 
but 35 points (one-fourth cent) between the different grades, as per above table. 



Chicago, June 6, 1899. 

Dear Sirs: I take the liberty of handing you an analysis of five of the standard 
samples of the New York Coffee Exchange, which I hope may assist you in estal>- 
lishing a standard of grade to govern the future importations of coffee into this 
country, and exclude triage and inferior coffee, for which this country has been 
the dumping ground of the world. 

I find that a large number of the importers of and large dealsrs in coffee are in 
favor of such a measure as will exclude all coffees which at time of shipment con- 
tained more than from 2^ to 3 per cent of damaged berries, hulls, and sticks or 
valueless matter foreign to the coffee. 

In the drafting of such a measure it will be necessary to make provision for such 



I 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS 49 

coffees as may become damaged while in transit from the port of shipment to this 
country. I refer more particularly to the fine East India coffees, which continue 
to be shipped in sailing vessels, requiring a period of four months for the voyage. 

As the vessels employed in this trade are not of the most seaworthy character, 
it is not uniasual for a portion of the cargo to become damaged from moisture. 
(Coffee is very susceptible of moisture. When once wet it turns black in a short 
time, if not immediately dried. ) 

The damaged portion of these East India cargoes are skimmed, i. e. , the dam- 
aged portion is renaoved from the sound and is usually sold as " skimmings," or 
damaged coffee. The sound portion that has been skimmed is known as "made 
sound." There are two grades of skimmings, (J-/S and P, S. The G/S (good 
skimmings) are often hand picked and placed with the "made sound" coffee. 
The P/S (poor skimmings) are usually too badly damaged for similar treatment. 

It is the pickings from this and similar coffee which forms the triage coffee. 
This skimming and hand picking should be done under the supervision of the 
Government inspector, who should have the authority to order the triage destroyed 
if not exported within a certain period. 

When a 5 cents per pound duty did not stop the importation of triage, some 
thirty years since, is it reasonable to expect a 3 cents per pound duty to do so now? 
Very respectfully, 

Saml. Thompson. 

Senatorial Pure Food Investigating Committee, 

Chicago, III, 



doctoring beer. 

With the growth of the brewing trade and its financial power there also came 
an increase in the number of those who begrudged it the success it enjoyed and 
finally developed an organized army of enemies, who did everything possible in 
church and legislature to trim its wings and injure the trade. Attempts, partially 
successful, were made to close the breweries, to obstruct the sale of beer, and annoy 
both the brewers and the public as effectually as might be and throw discredit on 
the sale as well as the use of beer. Numberless bills in the legislatures, aiming to 
prohibit or curtail the consumption of beer and to give the State authority to poke 
Its nose into the business of the brewer, bear eloquent testimony of the extent to 
which the brewing trade is exposed to hostile attacks, often endangering its exist- 
ence and at least its prosperity. The pure- beer bills did not come only to disappear 
within a short time; they will remain and perhaps win in the end. Now, a rational 
pure-beer law adapted to American conditions would not cause any fear to any- 
body. But if one is acquainted with the intelligences which feel called upon to 
make pure-beer bills, all beer legislation must be looked upon with well-grounded 
diffidence. 

The question what constitutes beer and how a rational, acceptable American 
beer law should be framed, has been freouently discussed and could be solved 
without great difficulty to the satisfaction of all concerned. True, the brewers 
are not at one themselves in all details and occupy diverging positions on various 
points, which are only apparently unimportant. Thus, it may not apjjear very 
important whether a certain preservative should be allowed or not, and yet this 
very point is apt to lead to decided differences of opinion among experts and to 
consequences which are far from immaterial to the trade and its reputation. 

Every brewer must admit thatthe preparation of beerat this day. in consequence 
of scientific research, is different, more deliberate, methodical, and reliable than 
was the case in former times. Chance and luck no longer play so important a 
part, and ought not to playany. The beer should receive the necessary properties 
from the brew master, not from chance. It is in his power to gratify all demands 
if he faithfully follows the path that is marked out by science and does not ignore 
its teachings. Disturbances in the operation of the brewery and abnormal condi- 
tions will happen much more seldom, although they can not be avoided altogether 
even in the best conducted brewery. At this time the brewer must be capable of 
furnishing a faultless beer for the market, satisfying the most exacting demands 
in keg and bottle beer. In former times, when science could give no explanation 
and hence no remedy for many phenomena, the demands could not be so high, and 
it was natural thatrecour.se was had to remedies which at this day are and should 
be rejected, foreign additions which can be entirely avoided by the superior knowl- 
edge of the day and are no longer in harmony with the evolution of the trade. 
These are the various drugs for '•doctoring" beer which have been stigmatized 
and opposed vigorously by the journals of the trade. 

F r tt 



50 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Beer is a beverage prepared from cereals, as barley, rice, corn, wheat, seasoned 
with hops and passing through a natural process of fermentation and being con- 
sumed in its natural condition without foreign admixtures. From time imme- 
morial these malted or unmalted cereals, together with water and hops, have been 
recognized as the proper brewing materials. All other substances having a dif- 
ferent composition are not admissible, no matter what the reason for which they 
are employed. In former years — not to the extent which the public and the 
humorists of the press claim, however— articles were added to give a certain taste 
to beer or increase its stability. The practice was given up by brewers almost on 
their own account, because it appeared largely useless and largely because it was 
found that with proper management the natural way was the best. The question 
of stability only remained and still remains a vexed one, and brewers are still 
lacking somewhat in confidence in their brewing methods which ought to pro- 
duce beers that do not require any preservatives. For such reasons they do not 
willingly emancipate themselves from certain preservatives which afford an 
amount of certainty and perhaps also promote carelessness and unprofessional 
work. But it is and remains an indisputable principle of modern brewing that 
there is no room in beer for chemicals of any kind; that is, products of chemical 
processes as distinguished from the natural processes of development in brewing. 
Brewers can get along without carbonate of soda, salicylic and benzoic acid, 
saccharine, ammonium fluoride, etc., and they must reach the point where they 
can, by care and appropriate methods, prepare stable beers of good taste without 
adding any foreign substances. 

There can be no objection, however, if beer is preserved in a natural way, if it 
IS sterilized by being exposed to high or low temperatures which accomplish that 
purpose. The brewer ought to have nothing to do with drugs, not only for the 
reason that he can not possibly take the responsibility for them which properly 
belongs only to chemists and physicians, but particularly because he thereby 
shows a certain lack of competency in his trade and, moreover, gives to the ene- 
mies a destructive weapon, enabling them to bring the brewing trade into dis- 
grace and affording a pretext to the legislatures to lay their paternal hands upon 
the brewing industry in such a way that the brewer will have to fear the police- 
man's club in his own business and be subject to more exactions than he can bear. 

The greatest and most renowned beer country in the world — Germany — has 
long since done away with these pretty drugs, and the scientific and practical 
authorities of that country, who speak with undisguised respect of our American 
brewing methods, are quite naturally shocked that it is possible in this country 
to go so far as to advocate the use of preservatives in the public press. 



Friday, 3fay 5, 1899. 
The committee met at 11.30 a. m. Present, Senator Mason (chair- 
man) and Cliief Chemist Wiley. 
Dr. R. Kennedy Scobell appeared. 

STATEMENT OF DR. R. KENNEDY SCOBELL. 

Who being first dnly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Dr. Scobell. R. Kennedy Scobell. 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Dr. Scobell. I am employed by Langy & Ross, wholesale dealers 
in proprietary remedies. I lecture to women on health. 

The Chairman. Are you a member of any association? 

Dr. Scobell. Yes; I am i^resident of the Society for the Promotion 
of Health. 

The Chairman. Where is your office? 

Dr. Scobell. We have meetings at the Great Northern Hotel every 
two weeks. 

The Chairman. What is the object of that? 

Dr. Scobell. To discuss various objects that ought to interest 
women; reform in dress and physical culture. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 51 

The Chairman. In connection with that society have you taken up 
the question of food adulteration? 

Dr. SCOBELL. Yes; but we have not made the analyses, but at each 
meeting we have a demonstration of pure food and try to instruct 
women in the kinds thej'^ should use. 

The Chairman. Please state, from your information, what are the 
general forms of the adulteration of food. 

Dr. ScoBELL. Well, I have a paper here that will take me about 
two minutes to read. It is a sort of unwritten law with us in club life 
that we stick to our text, and I give it in this way. I have just a few 
ideas here, and it will only take a minute or two. Personally, I have 
made no investigations of food regarding their adulteration. I repre- 
sent a number of housewives who ha\^e made investigations. I have 
had no occasion to state them before the lawmakers. 

(Witness reads from paper as follows:) 
Senator Mason and Committee on Investigation of Foods. 

Esteemed Sirs: Personally I have had no experience in investigating foods as 
to their adulteration. However, I represent a vast host of housewives who have 
made observations and yet have had no chance to bring them before the attention 
of such lawmakers that could correct the existing evils, so full of menace to our 
families. The subject of adulterated foods is indeed a vital one, but I think the 
subject of contaminated food the greater one. My own personal observations 
have been made in reference to the way foods are kept in places they are on sale. 
Noting first the breadstutfs, which in most small groceries are kept outside of 
dirty cases, on shelving, the resting place of flies and the ever-floating dust. Bread, 
cookies, cakes, crackers, should all be covered with covers and bread should be 
covered with tissue paper. 

2. Dried fruits of all kinds in open boxes on floors or counters; teas, coffee, and 
spices. 

3. Milk, cheese, lard, butter, uncovered and in nearness to sink. 

4. Candy in pails, boxes, or baskets in stores; on street uncovered. 

5. Figs, dates, in open boxes, usually eaten without washing, and also small 
fruit. 

6. Cooked meats, salt meats, and fish; in fact, all foods that are not usually 
washed before use. 

7. Uncooked meats lying on uncovered counters, open to the incessant handling 
of passing crowds, who never have clean hands in Chicago, etc. 

8. The careless sweeping of stores is an important matter. Vegetables and all 
fruits that have been exposed during the day and the dust from sweeping left to 
settle upon them and then sold the next day. The dust, the atmospheric impuri- 
ties of street and store, the powdered filth from beast and expiration of man. As 
housewives we feel the first and foremost work is to plead with the lawmakers to 
try to bring about in some way an improvement in the care of foods in store. 
Housewives frequently complain of the hands of clerks in markets and groceries. 
An observation a woman physician made only yesterday: She stepped in a market; 
a clerk was cleaning a fowl. He hastily wiped his gory hands on a filthy towel 
and started to cut a steak. She stopped him and asked if he intended to wash his 
hands before serving her. He replied, ''No." She declined to accept any of the 

.stock. The handling of food should be the first thing the committee, in my opin- 
ion, would do well to start a reform in; and the grocers and people who handle 
food that obey the suggestions of the committee will have the hearty indorsement 
of the women generally, and unless a reform is instituted, the women will center 
their entire patronage with the few meat dealers who, by the laws of his church, 
has to keep himself and the meat he deals out absolutely clean. 

Respectfully, R. K. Scobell. 

Dr. ScoBELL. They should kill the animal bj^ letting off the blood; 
and we have found a case where a woman consulted a doctor for tuber- 
culosis; he found the cause of her illness was eating meat from an 
animal killed from a shock on the head. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything further? 

Dr. ScOBELL. We have been making a study of this investigation. 

The Chairman. The suggestions you make would go to the cleanly 
handling of food products. 



52 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Dr. SCOBELL, Yes, sir. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. In these demonstrations of food which you 
make at your club, what is the object which you have in view in 
demonstrating pure food, as you have used that expression; how do 
you do it? You stated that at each meeting of j^our club you had a 
demonstration of a food product. 

Dr. ScoBELL. We endeavor to get a pure kind of food and demon- 
strate the best way to do that, and we especially show them how to 
cook it properly. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. In your discussion of this matter have j^ou 
ever insisted on the fact that food be true to its name? 

Dr. ScOBELL. Yes; that is one thing. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. What you buy it for? 

Dr. ScoBELL. Yes. If it is not a genuine article we want to know it. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Have you ever used preserved foods in these 
demonstrations? 

Dr. Scobell. Yes; and they are generally a pure article, I think. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. And these preserved foods, have they been 
preserved by sterilization — by heat? 

Dr. Scobell. Many have. We have heat in various ways. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Have you ever had any foods preserved by 
adding chemicals? 

Dr. Scobell. Yes, sir. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Does the club regard these as thoroughly 
pure foods? 

Dr. Scobell. Not at all. Some have been sent by the dealers, but 
refused- 
Chief Chemist Wiley. Your club does not regard that kind of pre- 
servatives as tending to good health? 

Dr. Scobell. Not at all. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. You do regard sterilized food as wholesome? 

Dr. Scobell. Oh, yes. We find the Highland brand of condensed 
milk a good one. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. That has sugar added to it. 

Dr. Scobell. Yes; they have their own cows. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The care and cleanliness of the animals is 
just as important to good butter as the handling in the market. 

Dr. Scobell. Yes. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. So many dairymen neglect the cleanliness 
of the cows. 

Dr. Scobell. Yes; I frequently see milk coming in with particles 
of filth on top of the milk. Anything of this kind should be reformed 
immediately, and the animals taken care of. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Then your club regards pure food as one of 
the essential things to health? 

Dr. Scobell. Most decidedly, as blood is to manufacture food and 
meat. 

STATEMENT OF DR. H. W. WILEY— Recalled. 

The Chairman. I want to direct your attention just a moment and 
see if I understood you correctly when you stated that some of the 
products of European countries were sold in this country that they 
could not sell in their own country — prohibited to sell in their own 
country. Is that true? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The laws of most European countries forbid 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 53 

the addition of certain preservatives to food products. Saccliarin is 
one I mentioned, and salicylic acid is another. 

The Chairman. Don't they permit the sale of it? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. As a medicine, but not as a food preserva- 
tive. Saccharin, of course, as you know, is not' a sugar, but a coal-tar 
preparation. It has a sweet taste, but is not digestible. Every par- 
ticle of saccharin you take into the body passes off unchanged. It 
has no food value. It is an antiseptic. It prevents decay and there- 
fore retards digestion to that extent. There is no Federal law in this 
country forbidding traffic in foods which are preserved in any way. 
There may be State laws forbidding traffic and sale of such foods in 
particular States, but there is no law preventing adulterated foods 
from being made in Illinois and sold in Indiana, nor is there any 
national law that would prevent the introduction of these adultera- 
tions from abroad, unless it could be demonstrated to the satisfaction 
of the court that thej^ contain injurious ingredients, in which case 
they would be excluded under the general act forbidding the impor- 
tation of injurious substances. There is no recent law regarding this 
matter at all. In other words, unscrupulous dealers can send to this 
country articles which their own laws would forbid them to expose for 
sale in their own countr5^ That is the general rule, also, which applies 
to wines — wines, beers, and preserved foods of all kinds. We import 
immense numbers of sausages to this country and meats of all kinds. 
One does not know how they are preserved unless he makes a chemical 
examination of them. There is no law regulating the sale in this 
country, but there is in their own country, and we are placed at a dis- 
advantage. 

Another point at which our people are placed at a disadvantage is 
this : If a State did enact a law regulating the commerce of adulter- 
ated foods, it could not go beyond its own State lines to get at the 
people who manufacture the food in other States. A manufacturer 
in the State of Illinois may make preserved foods to which he adds 
salicylic acid. The State of Indiana may forbid the sale of foods 
containing salicylic acid, and these foods may be sent into Indiana 
and sold there by men perfectly innocent, who do not know that they 
contain acid. These men must suffer. They can not come into Illi- 
nois and reach the man who made these goods, and hence the neces- 
sity of a Federal law covering such traffic. That is all it can do in 
such matters. 

The Chairman. What do you say about the blending or mixing of 
liquors, as to whether or not it is carried on? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The blending and mixing of liquors and 
fermented beverages is of two kinds, as, for instance, in the case of 
wines, to secure a uniform brand or quality, which is necessary to 
secure a market. That is a blending that is practiced in all wine 
countries. Wines from different vineyards have different flavors, due 
to local causes, and dealers in the various kinds of wines take them 
and blend them and make from year to year a uniform character of 
wine. Such blending as this is perfectly legitimate and unobjection- 
able, and even praiseworthy, because it secures for a varying article 
of wine a uniform standard and qualitj^ That illustrates one form 
of blending. The next is where liquors and beverages are blended or 
compounded so as to produce a strictly artificial mixture, as, for 
instance, if a man should take 10 or 12 per cent alcohol and 3 per cent 
of such materials as sugar and glycerin, and a dash of tannin, and 
then a red coloring material and an artificial flavor of some kind, 



54 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PE0DUCT8. 

made by a chemist, and a drop or two of essential oil and a little 
burnt sugar. Now, in mixing these bodies he can make a claret, or 
make a material or a mixture which is red and has chemically the 
same materials which are found in genuine claret. It may taste like 
it, and does look like' it, and yet it is a purely artificial compound. 
Only the most careful chemical examination can reveal the difference, 
and only a cultivated taste could distinguish the difference. The 
person dining ordinarily at the table with a bottle of claret could not, 
unless very expert, distinguish the fact that he was drinking an arti- 
ficial wine. That kind of blending is fraudulent on its face, and also 
experience has shown that such a compound is less palatable and less 
wholesome, and, in fact, may be positively injurious. While we can 
imitate the chemical constituents, we never can imitate nature in 
making them palatable and wholesome. 

The Chairman. How many different samples of blended wines and 
mixed wines and liquors have you analyzed? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. That would be hard to say. I have done 
more or less of this kind of work for a long time. We are now fin- 
ishing — just finishing — our work on a great many samples we got last 
winter. We can only approximately tell. There is no way to tell 
with ease and definitely which samples of whisky are genuine and 
which are not, because it is a rare thing that nothing but pure articles 
are placed on the market. The whiskies, I have been told, are gener- 
ally about two-thirds genuine and one-third mixed. The chemist is 
therefore at a loss. The only way to stop such practices in imported 
goods is to go right to headquarters, and in the case of imported wine, 
for example, it should come with a certificate from the government 
where it was made. If genuine, there should be no objection to the 
process of manufacture being open to the people, and only a law 
properly enforced would do this. Then there is another form of 
blending which is far more common, and that is in so-called distilled 
liquors and drinks which contain a large percentage of alcohol. 
Wines contain from 8 to 22 per cent of alcohol. Light claret contains 
only about 10 or 12 per cent, whereas port and champagne contain 
from 16 to 24 per cent. It is a rare thing for wine to have over from 
24 to 25 per cent alcohol. Most wines onlj^ have about 12 per cent. 
Beers have from 3 to 6 per cent alcohol, and ales, porters, and stouts 
have from 4 to 8 per cent. Distilled liquors have from 40 to 50 per 
cent alcohol. Rums and gins and that class which we call distilled 
liquors run very much higher in alcohol than beers and wines. The 
alcohol in these liquors has been obtained by distillation, whereas 
alcohol in beers and wines, when it is natural alcohol, as it usually is, 
is obtained by fermentation without distillation. There we have 
entirely distinct classes of bodies. 

Now, the amount of blending which is carried on in this country, I 
am told, is something enormous. The natural way of making whiskj^ 
for instance, is the fermentation of the grain in the first place. The 
grains employed in this country are rye and Indian corn principally. 
These are the two great sources of our whiskies. After fermentation 
is complete the mash, as it is called, is subjected to distillation. In 
distillation we have a vaporization of the alcohol and it is then con- 
densed. The product of condensations consists of water, then com- 
mon alcohol, and next a series of alcohols which are not common alco- 
hol, but which are known by the general term of "fusel oil," and 
finally essential oils and ethers. Fusel oil is a term applied to a mix- 
ture of alcohols which have a higher boiling point and have a more 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 55 

oily consistency tlian common alcohol. The ordinary alcohol is known 
as ethyl alcohol, while the fusel oil contains am 3^1 alcohol and l)utyl 
alcohol and various other alcohols. There may be many different 
kinds. All of these distillations contain essential oils, which give 
the flavor and odor to the mixture. Now, these crude alcohols which 
are distilled in this way are not suitable for drinking, llie product 
is raw whisky. It is colorless — water white — and has an unpleasant 
taste, and hence in order to make a beverage out of it it must be 
treated so as to improve the taste. This is what is called aging. 
For this purpose it is put into flasks made of oak, usually slightly 
burned or charred on the inside. When raw whisky is put into this 
receptacle it extracts a little tannin from the wood and a little color- 
ing matter. Then it begins to be slightly colored. This is then placed 
under the influence of oxygen, and the alcohols, under the influence 
of ferments, begin to oxidize. When an alcohol oxidizes it forms first 
what is called an ether. For instance, if we oxidize ethyl alcohol, 
which is the common kind, it forms what is known as sulphuric ether, 
the substance which produces anaesthesia. Whenever j^ou oxidize 
an alcohol of any kind you get an ether. If you oxidize amjd alco- 
hol, you get an ether of a different kind, but still the same general 
chemical substance. If you oxidize butyl alcohol, you get still another 
ether. These ethers are all extremely pleasant to the nostrils. They 
are all volatile, giving off odors to the air. They produce a pleasant 
odor and aroma, and at the same time, by oxidization, they remove 
the bad taste and poisonous alcohols from the mixture. In the course 
of several years, instead of having a mixture which is bad to the taste 
and smells badly and irritates, you get a mixture which has a delight- 
ful odor and taste, and is soothing, not irritating. You get a whisky 
fit to drink, instead of raw whisky. I have stated briefly the chemical 
process which takes j)lace in the aging of whisky. 

The Chairman. Give the committee some idea of the ingredients 
that are used in the compounding of whisky. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I was just coming to that. Now, this aging, 
as I say, takes years of time. It is expensive. The whisky leaks 
out. There is a loss in volume and a loss of interest on the value of 
the whisky, hence it is an expensive process. Now, the manufacture 
of compounded or, better, artificial whisky has for its purpose the 
avoiding of this long and expensive process. The makers begin with 
the pure article of spirits, which in the trade is known as cologne 
spirits and which can be made in a few hours by rectifying the high 
wines of the distillery. The object is to get rid of all the other alco- 
hols that I have mentioned and to leave only the pure ethyl alcohol. 
And the trade name of this is cologne spirits, one of the trade names 
for the finest variety. The blending begins with this high grade 
alcohol, about 96 per cent alcohol and 4 per cent water. To this is 
added enough water to dilute it to the strength of whisky, which is 
about 45 per cent. So here they double the volume, or a little more, 
right to start with. The next step is to color it; to give it that brown 
or reddish tint which we are accustomed to associate with some varie- 
ties of whisky. That is done by adding burnt sugar or caramel. The 
next thing is to supply those flavors which I have spoken of as being- 
due to the oxidization of the various alcohols, and these flavorings 
are easily made in the chemical laboratory. You can oxidize amyl 
alcohol and butyl alcohol and form these flavors. A few years ago I 
made a full report on these flavors to the Ways and Means Committee 
of Congress and will submit later as a part of my evidence a copy of 



56 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

that report. I would rather do this than depend upon my memory 
for full details. (See for this testimony Report No. 2601, House of 
Representatives, Fifty-second Congress, second session, pp. 67-74, 
inclusive.) 

The Chairman. That will be very satisfactory. May I ask you 
right there to state in compounded goods what, if any, of the mate- 
rials used, in your opinion, are deleterious to health. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I can not say that any of these materials are 
unwholesome or deleterious to health when used in moderate quanti- 
ties. They are chemically the same as those which are produced by 
the natural methods of aging in whisky. There is something lack- 
ing, however. While you can imitate nature, you can not substitute 
the artificial for natural products without impairing the quality of the 
product. There is something almost undescribable which makes a 
difference between the compounded and the natural products. The 
stomach and system are very expert wine tasters and whisky experts, 
and they will detect a difference, and there is a difference in effect 
which the chemical laboratory fails to distinguish, as experience has 
shown that the injury to health which is produced by, for instance, a 
little excess in the drinking of alcoholic liquors is very much accen- 
tuated when these artificial drinks are employed to the exclusion of 
the natural product. I say that without being able to state that any 
single substance employed in blending is injurious to health, because 
it is exactly duplicated by what nature produces, and yet the whole 
effect seems to be different. 

The Chairman. Then it would come under the first class of adul- 
terations, that class which are merely commercial frauds? 

Chief Chemist W^iley. No; I would class this under both heads, 
without being able to point out any particular thing that causes the 
injury. 

The Chairman. It is a fraud upon the consumer, and at the same 
time injurious to health. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes. I am not able to specify wherein the 
deleterious principal consists, but it is the general effect which it pro- 
duces. By the way which I have described,, in two or three hours the 
skillful compounder can make a material which looks like, smells like, 
tastes like, and analyzes like a genuine whiskj^, but still it has a dif- 
ferent effect upon the sj^stem. The people who drink this whisky are 
much more liable to receive injury from it than those who drink the 
genuine article. What I have said about whisky is also true as to 
brandy, which you know is obtained by distilling wine or fermented 
grape juice. In the treatment of grapes, after the expression of the 
juice, you have left a mass of pomace which has a quantity of grape 
sugar and the tannic and other qualities peculiar to the grape. This, 
mixed with water and fermented, forms a low-grade wine. This wine, 
which is not put into commerce, is subjected to distillation, and 
brandy is the product. If this is genuine brandy it has to be aged the 
same as whisky to get the proper flavor and the aroma, which comes 
from the alcohols which it contains. Compounded brandy is made 
exactly the same way as compounded whisky is made. The essence 
dealer will sell to the brandy maker brandy essence, and to the whisky 
maker whisky essence. So the fraud is the same in character in 
both cases. This compounding is not peculiar to this country alone. 
They make compound brandy in Europe, so that the total quantity 
produced is far in excess of the actual quantity derived from grape 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 57 

juice fermented and distilled. We are not the only sinners by any 
means in this respect. 

The Chairman. There is nothing to prevent the importation of these 
wines and brandies in this country, is there? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Absolutely none. 

The Chairman. What suggestion would you make as to a bill that 
could be drawn in regard to these compounded brandies and whiskies, 
to compel them to mark them for wliat they are? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I would not favor a bill which would pro- 
hibit the manufacture'of these materials, but I would favor a bill 
which would require them to be plainly marked and stamped by the 
Government when it stamps its alcohol content. In fact, these com- 
pounded whiskies do not go usually into bonded warehouses, but are 
simply made and sold direct to the trade, so when they are stamped in 
the first instance with a revenue stamp the Government officials could 
easily see that they were stamped what they really are. I was told 
this by a man well informed. I do not speak of this from personal 
knowledge, because I do not know. 

The Chairman. You have no personal knowledge? 

Chief Chemist WiLEY. ,While I am quite familiar with distilleries 
from a technical point of view, and also with bonded warehouses, I 
am not personally cognizant of the extent of this practice; but I was 
told by a gentleman who was well informed that considerably over 
half of the whisky in this country (and there are nearly 100,000,000 
gallons used) was comijounded whisky. Less than half was the genu- 
ine article, and while they usually mix a little old whisky with it so 
as to have the two kinds together, they often sell it purely and simply 
as it is — whisky that has no claim to be called whisky under the 
real meaning of that term, and brandy which has no claim to be called 
brandy, because it never has been in contact with the grape in any 
way. I am not saying anything against the business of chemical 
manufacture. It is a genuine and legitimate business. The making 
of this essence and ether is just as legitimate as the making of steel. 
Some of the best friends I have in the world are engaged in this busi- 
ness, and they are perfectly honest, upright gentlemen. I would not 
want any law to interfere with their business. They are just as much 
in favor of the proposed law as I am. They do not want either of 
these things to go out of their hands to be used for fraudulent pur- 
poses, and they do not like to be participes criminis in this matter. 

The Chairman. The making of this essence is a perfectly legitimate 
business? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Perfectly legitimate. They are anxious that 
when these articles go into the trade they should continue under their 
own names until they reach the consumer and not masquerade under 
any false title or name. These same manufacturers make the flavor- 
ing extracts for soda water — apple, peach, and banana — simply because 
the chemist has found out that these flavors are due to the presence 
of ethers, which are cheaply made. The flavor of apple or peach is 
easily produced by a chemical process — by fermentation and oxidiza- 
tion of the resulting alcohol of some kind. Now, the chemist studied 
the apple, and he found out that the flavor of the apple is due to a cer- 
tain ether, and he made the apple flavor. It is the same way with the 
banana. The peculiar flavor of the banana is one of the most abun- 
dant of synthetic ethers, amyl acetate. You open a bottle of this 
substance in a room, and you will think the whole place is stocked 



58 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

with bananas. It is made of amyl alcohol. It is the most abundant 
alcohol in fusel oil. Sometimes that name is given to amyl alcohol, 
because it is one of the most abundant alcohols forming fusel oil. 
Almost every flavor nature produces has been imitated in a chemical 
laborator}^ even musk. These flavors are sold for flavoring extracts 
and other purposes. You go to a soda fountain in this country and 
ask for soda water, and you may not get a pure fruit flavor such as you 
ask for. You see a great list of names hung up over the bar where 
they sell soda water, and j^ou ask for this, that, or the other, and 
you may get a fruit extract — that is, sometimes you may — but five to 
one you'll get one of these ethers put up and colored to imitate the pure 
fruit flavor. They are much more convenient and cheaper to handle. 
They do not ferment. They will keep forever. 

The Chairman. Do you consider them healthy? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. They are not injurious to health in minute 
quantities. They are not as perfect and as good as the pure fruit, 
because in fruit you get something of the fruit, which adds to the 
flavor; but the real essence which gives the flavor is the same in both. 
The artificial essence to my taste is flat and not palatable. I do not 
like it. 



Monday, 3Iay 8, 1899. 
The committee met at 10.15 a. m. 

Present, Senator Mason (chairman). Senator Harris, and Chief 
Chemist Wiley. 
Mr. P. M. Hanney appeared. 

STATEMENT OF MR. P. M. HANNEY, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name, residence, and occupation? 

Mr. Hanney. Patrick M. Hanney; residence, Chicago, 111., 1173 
North Clark; business, foods. 

The Chairman. Are you a manufacturer of food products? 

Mr. Hanney. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Where is your factory? 

Mr. Hanney. Franklin Park. 

The Chairman. In this city? 

Mr. Hanney. In this State. 

The Chairman. What do you manufacture? 

Mr. Hanney. Cereals. 

The Chairman. Do you prepare food from cereals? 

Mr. Hanney. We manufacture the foods from the grains. 

The Chairman. What different preparations do j'ou prepare? 

Mr. Hanney. Whole-wheat flour, grain flour, rolled oats, and granu- 
lated breakfast food made from wheat pancake flour, buckwheat 
flour and gluten flour, wheat flakes, and wheat made into flakes the 
same as flour, and I guess that is pretty near all; there may be one or 
two others. 

The Chairman. Well, in the process of the mixing, do you have occa- 
sion to come under what is known as the pure-flour bill? 

Mr. Hanney. Yes. 

The Chairman. There has been some complaint, and I do not know 
but some just complaint, that what is known as the pure-flour bill 
reaches a certain class of pancake flour and materials that it was not 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 59 

intended to be included in the said bill. The Committee on Manufac- 
tures recommended to the Senate of the United States the bill known as 
the pure-flour bill. The object of the bill was to prohibit the selling 
or to compel the people to sell wheat flour for what it is, and it was not 
intended to put tax upon legitimate mixtures which were formulated 
for the purposes of different kinds of cooking Have you anything to 
say or any suggestions to make that may be under consideration for 
amendment? I am told that some of the millers of the country are 
willing to have an amendment made which will relieve that hardship 
from those who mix pancake flour and self-rising flour. 

Mr. Hanney. All I would suggest would be to put on the outside of 
the package exactlj^ what is in the package, the same as the bill is now 
in force. Nothing further. I can't see what would be better than 
that. 

The Chairman. You have to stamp some of your packages, do you? 

Mr. Hanney. Yes. 

The Chairman. On account of the ruling of the Department that 
it comes within the prescribed mixed-flour bill? 

Mr. Hanney. Yes, sir; pancake flour, for illustration. 

The Chairman. What is this made out of? 

Mr. Hanney. It is made out of whole-wheat flour, some corn, and 
rice flour, some salt, and a little raising preparation. 

The Chairman. The largest part of it is whole-wlieat flour? 

Mr. Hanney. Sixty per cent is whole-wheat flour. 

The Chairman. Do you use any adulterants like terra alba or full- 
er's earth? 

Mr. Hanney. No. 

The Chairman. Do you use any barytes? 

Mr. Hanney. None whatever. 

The Chairman. Do you know a factory where they do use it."'' 

Mr. Hanney. I have suspicions about it, but I am not sure. 

The Chairman. The information you have you would not want to 
give as positive, but simply upon hearsay? 

Mr. Hanney. I would not want to give it right out. I have never 
seen it put in, but it has been said there is some such goods on the 
market. 

The Chairman. Well, as far as your goods are concerned, what do 
you suggest regarding the general law as to mixed flour? You are 
mixing from corn, whole wheat, and rice. What, as a matter of faith 
to the honest manufacturer, ought the Government to do? 

Mr. Hanney. He ought to get out a little description and put on the 
outside of the package, "This contains corn, rice, salt, soda, and 
whole wheat flour." 

Senator Harris. That flour has always been sold and known to the 
trade as mixed flour? 

Mr. Hanney. Yes. 

Senator Harris. There is no concealment of it. It is known as 
mixed flour. 

Mr. Hanney. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. There is no fraud practiced? 

Mr. Hanney. No, sir; it is not put up to deceive or cheapen, any- 
thing of that kind. It is put up to make other flour more palatable. 
It is a mixture of different grains or cereals. 

Senator Harris. From that standpoint you do not really think there 
is any necessity of a pure-flour law? 



60 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Hanney. I did not say that. I said I could not make any 
amendments to the regular law now in force. 

The Chairman. I understand, Senator, they had to stamp. 

Senator Harris. I understood it came under the provision of the 
Revenue Department. The only point, in so far as that is concerned, 
would be simply the saving in regard to this stamp duty. 

Mr. Hanney. I reallj^ think it would be very beneficial to demand 
from the manufacturers that they put the exact formula on the out- 
side of each package. That would do away with a great deal of this 
adulteration and injurious things that may be put in otherwise in the 
package. 

Senator Harris. Anything in the nature of amendment to the law 
would be apt to open the door to fraud. Wouldn't you think that 
would be the result? 

Mr. Hanney. The way the law is now in force it is the most prac- 
tical way you can get it. 

Senator Harris. If you go to amend it you may weaken the law. 

Mr. Hanney. Yes, sir; get in some place where they could defraud 
more than at present. 

STATEMENT OF MR. H. G. FURBAY, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name, residence, and business, Mr, 
Furbay? 

Mr. Furbay. H. G. Furbay; residence, 1630 Indiana avenue, and 
I am connected with the Hazel Pure Food Company. 

The Chairman. Where are you located? 

Mr. Furbay. Our factory is at Franklin Park, 111. I am located in 
Seigel, Cooper & Co., in one of their departments. 

The Chairman. Is that the same company Mr. Hanney testified 
about? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir; Mr. Hanney is president of the company. 

The Chairman. Have you anything to add in addition to the things 
that have been stated in regard to the manufactured goods? 

Mr. Furbay. I believe not. 

The Chairman. You feel that you get unfair competition with 
adulterated goods? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I want you to understand and all business men to 
understand that this committee has no disposition to interfere with 
legitimate business. We have several objects in view. One is to pro- 
tect the public against fraudulently adulterated goods. Another is to 
protect the honest manufacturer who has to sell legitimate goods in 
competition with adulterated goods. 

Mr. Furbay. We feel this way, that very few business men in Chi- 
cago appreciate the pure-food question purely from a commercial 
standpoint, and we are acting upon the principle that we believe there 
is more mone}^ to be made out or pure foods honestly labeled and care- 
fully prepared than there is out of adulterated products; and at the 
same time I have striven to improve the health of our patrons and 
also their welfare in giving absolutely pure articles in competition 
with a cheaper grade of goods. We feel that we can produce the 
goods and put them on the market at a larger profit even when some- 
one else is putting goods on the market which contain illegitimate 



f 



I 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 61 

adulterations of the same materials. I feel personally that all goods 
ought to be honestly labeled, not always putting on the formula. 

The Chairman. You do not want to give away trade secrets? 

Mr. FuRBAY. No; not by putting ingredients on the package. 

Senator Harris. What is your definition for pure food? 

Mr. Furbay. Food prepared containing no deleterious substances. 
Now, there is a can of sirup [indicating can on table]. I would 
hardly call that pure. Sirup manufactured as it is is sirup, but it 
is not a high grade of sirup. 

Senator Harris. Would you call that pure sirup [indicating another 
can of sirup on the table]? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir; if the formula there is as it is. If I should 
come to talk of the adulteration of other things — it is difficult to talk 
on sirups. Take flour, mixed flour, which is mixed with corn, if it is 
so stated, would be a pure product. I would say if it has alum in it 
it would be an impure food — a deleterious food. Take, for example, 
olive oil. It is difficult to get a pure olive oil, and recent reports 
show that a great majority of the oil exported from France is mixed 
with peanut oil. It is shipped to Marseilles, where it is exported and 
mixed with pure olive oil and sold as olive oil. If it was labeled pea- 
nut oil it w^ould be all right, but when it is labeled olive oil I would 
consider it fraudulent. 

Senator Harris. There may be a great fraud practiced in selling 
pure-food products from that definition? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. If that can [indicating] was marked honestly you 
would not consider it a fraud on the market, would you? 

Mr. Furbay. No, sir. 

The Chairman. It now purports to be 80 per cent corn sugar and 
20 per cent cane sugar. 

Mr. Furbay. If it was marked "honey" and sold for honey, and 
yet composed of honey and glucose, I would consider it a fraudulent 
product, but not necessarilj^ injurious to health. 

The Chairman. Now, in what way can they adulterate the foods 
with which you have to compete? The cereals which you represent 
are important not only to the consumer but to the manufacturer. In 
what way, are you informed, do they adulterate and cheapen this 
product, and in that way give you unfair competition? 

Mr. Furbay. Take, for example, flour — patent flour. It is adulter- 
ated by the addition of corn to the flour. There are numbers, I think, 
at the Agricultural Department in Washington that have made quite 
an extensive investigation in regard to that and have so discovered that 
to be. They have sold this patent flour for pure wheat flour. 

The Chairman. Part of that is known as " flourine." Do you know 
what that is? It is a by-product of a glucose factory. 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir; I know what you mean. 

The Chajrman. It is called corn flour. I understand it is a differ- 
ent article from the corn that. is ground. 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You take white corn and make white-corn flour 
out of it and it would be a healthy food product. You take the same 
corn which is gotten from a glucose factory and bleach it out and 
grind it and make flour — is that one of the articles your competitors 
use? 
Mr. Furbay. No, sir. 
The Chairman. Do you use any of it? 



62 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUGTS. 

Mr. FURBAY, No, sir. 

The Chairman. You are familiar with what is used? 

Mr. FuRBAY. No; I am not familiar with what is used in the fac- 
tory. My work is chiefly in the office. 

The Chairman. You do not paj' any bills, do you, of that kind of 
flour that comes from that factory? 

Mr. FuRBAY. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you have a self-rising flour in your factory 
known as pancake flour? 

Mr. FuRBAY. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Keady to rise as soon as mixed? 

Mr. FuRBAY. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You spoke voluntarily of the question of alum. I 
suppose you may have heard the evidence of Dr. Wiley and the med- 
ical evidence to the effect that alum is an acetic poison. Do you use 
any of that in your mixtures? 

Mr. FURBAY. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You do have to use some rising preparation? 

Mr. FuRBAY. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. But it is not alum? 

Mr. FuRBAY. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Whatever it is it is very small compared to the 
bulk of the flour used? 

Mr. FuRBAY. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you any adulterants that you hear that are 
used by your competitors to cheapen their product? 

Mr. FURBAY. No. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything you would care to sug- 
gest to the committee? 

Mr. FuRBAY. No, sir; I think not. Senator. Taking the whole food 
question 

Senator Harris. I would like to ask Mr. Furbay if he thinks the 
operation of the law with regard to pure flour has been beneflcial? 

Mr. Furbay. Well, I tliink it has. 

Senator Harris. Has it removed any of the difficulties of your 
business? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes; I think it has done one thing from one stand- 
point of observation. I believe it is the only law I know of that seems 
to be at all effective to prevent the importation of adulterated food. 
If I were making a suggestion, it would be along that line — the enact- 
ment of a law that would operate the same way in all classes of food. 
For instance, Cross & Blackwell and other English flrms drove Amer- 
ican manufacturers out of the market. They were putting on the 
market pure fdod. We were producing these products cheaper than 
they were in Europe, and yet European manufacturers were shipping 
foreign foods in here. It is now turned, and we are now introducing 
a food of a higher grade and character than we can import. 

Senator Harris. Did I understand you to say that such firms as 
Cross & Blackwell could keep their articles in the market because of 
the purity of their articles? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir. What they put up to sell was what their 
label said. 

Senator Harris. It was honest goods? 

Mr. Furbay. Yes, sir. At the present time the amount of food 
products — I can't speak from data — that are imported are not as high 
grade as those x^roduced in our own country. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 63 

Senator Harris. There has been a complete reversion. 

Mr. FURBAY. Yes, sir; and we could be protected by the enact- 
ment of some law that would protect all food products, as the mixed- 
flour law. 

Senator Harris. If Cross & Blackwell control the market by the 
purity of their goods, whatever tends to hamper and retard the impor- 
tation of such goods would have been a good thing to those who were 
l^roducing dishonest goods, in this country? 

Mr. FURBAY. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. How do you account for the change that has taken 
place? 

Mr. FURBAY. In this way, that we have advanced in our general 
national character. 

Senator Harris. We have become more honest. 

Mr. FURBAY. Yes, sir; I believe that is true. 

The Chairman. We found it was the best policy, perhaps. 

Mr. FuRBAY. Yes, sir; the same policy that the Hazel Pure Food 
Company want to put out honest articles, properly labeled, because 
they think there is more money in it. I think the business men will 
all come to see it. 

The Chairman. That would follow from the proposition adhered to 
by Cross & Blackwell. If they had had the power controlling the foreign 
market by reason of honesty, of course there is an incentive for honesty 
here. Do not the goods of Cross & Blackwell and some other English 
manufacturers of preserves and marmalades still top the market? 

Mr. FuRBAY. Yes; I suppose they do, because they are widely 
advertised and better known than others upon the market now, placed 
there by such companies as the Hazel Pure Food Company. 

Senator Harris. You do not manufacture anything along the line 
of sirups, do you? 

Mr. FURBAY. No, sir. 



STATEMENT OF P. M. HANNEY— Resumed. 

Mr. Hanney. I would like to suggest that when I first came to this 
country I traveled all around the United States in search of pure 
foods, and I discovered that all English manufactures and German 
manufactures and French manufactures were more prominently on 
the market. They were all well known to the people. There were no 
American goods or any goods then except one pure-food article for 
sale here. 

Senator Harris. You say twelve years ago? 

Mr. Hanney. Twelve or thirteen. There was some market and 
some people putting up a few goods, but the foreign markets of the 
world had the whole of the market. Cross & Blackwell, Dundee 
Marmalade Company, Black &, Son, and all French manufacturers of 
peas and mushrooms and asparagus. There was no such thing known 
in this country at that time, Senator, as high-grade asparagus or high- 
grade peas. 

Senator HARRIS. The canning of these articles has been somewhat 
recent; consequently there were poor preserves manufactured in this 
country. Perhaps they were as high grade as those in other countries. 

Mr. Hanney. There were one or two manufacturers in New York 
State that put up in a small wa}^ but there was none that was so good 



64 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 

as the English companies, French companies, and German companies. 
There was one concern in New York, Gordon & Dilwortli, the only 
one I know of which was of general acquaintance in this country 
when I came here. 

Senator Harris. Are there any manufacturers in this country now 
of those articles that have the same reputation for honesty in their 
products? 

Mr. Hanney. There are about thirty in this country now that are 
even better than the English companies and French and German 
companies. 

Senator Harris. You do not mean to say that all the English, 
French, and German companies manufacture pure and honest goods? 

Mr. Hanney. No; I say that at that time they were the only goods 
that were known and prepared and truthfully labeled. 

Senator Harris. There were some firms that produced honest goods. 

Mr. Hanney. A few small ones, but the most of the goods came 
from the English, French, and Germans. 

The Chairman. I will say. Senator Harris, that it has developed 
here that there are many things imported — for instance, coffee — that 
there is a substance taken out of Germany known as "black jack" 
that they are absolutely prohibited from selling in Germany, but they 
are at present selling it here. We want to stop the importation of 
goods to this country that are prohibited in their own country. 



STATEMENT OF J. H. MONRED, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. Where do you live, Mr. Monred? 

Mr. Monred. Winnetka, HI. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Monred. I am a dairy expert — butter maker and cheese maker. 

The Chairman. 1 will state that I understand that this witness 
-said that he did not want to stay around to-day; but I want to ask 
him one question. We have heard some very full evidence regarding 
the adulteration of dairy products, and there is an article which this 
gentleman tells me is being adulterated; that is condensed milk. 
What do you have to say about this? 

Mr. Monred. I have to say that several brands of condensed milk 
in the market are sold which are really condensed skimmed milk. 
The butter fat is extracted, and as it is the valuable ingredient it is 
adulterated and is a fraud upon the market. 

Senator Harris. It would not be adulterated, but an inferior 
article. 

Mr. Monred. I think any milkman in Chicago sells skimmed milk 
for adulterated. 

Senator Harris. It is a fraudulent article, is it not? 

Mr. Monred. It is selling an inferior article under the name of the 
high- valued article. 

The Chairman. Well, now, how do you know this? Did you ana- 
lyze it yourself? 

Mr. Monred. I am no chemist, but during the World's Fair I made 
one or two analyses with a Babcock test and detected that even this 
milk had been fraudulently labeled, and found it was some 2 per 
cent of fat instead of 3|. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 65 

Senator Harris. It was a case where skimmed milk masqueraded 
as cream. 

Mr. MoNRED. Yes, sir; and I will say that the most simple way to 
cover all food products is the same law as I understand now exists 
about flour — that it should be branded for what it is. It is not adul- 
terated; it is substituting skimmed milk; and it is not a good food, 
but is an unfair food, and it should be sold under its own name and 
for its value. Ii we had a national law compelling all foods to be 
branded, it would cover the situation. 

Senator Harris. The law in Chicago in effect prohibits the sale of 
skimmed milk, does it not? 

Mr. MoNRED. It allows it to be sold if the cans are tagged. 

Senator Harris. It can be sold'? 

Mr. MoNRED. Yes, sir. In New York City the board of health will 
allow it sold even, under its own name. Skimmed milk is a cheap food, 
and I object to its being sold as pure milk. There is great danger in 
condensed milk as a food for children, because they dilute it with 
water and starve the children. 

Senator Harris. As far as the market is concerned you do not think 
the State laws would be effective or sufficient? 

Mr. MoNREP. Not so much in condensed milk, because it is used 
largely on board ships and is shipped from one State to another. I 
should think a national law is more important. 

Senator Harris. At the place where they manufactured it they 
are required to brand it. 

The Chairman. I will say that in this State to-day you go to the 
wholesale houses — the manufacturers brand what they ship. The 
pure-food law in Iowa requires the branding, while the laws of Kansas 
do not, perhaps. 

Senator Harris, Suppose every State would adopt a law which 
required that all articles should be branded exactly what they are? 

The Chairman. Yes; that is right if it could be done. That would 
mean the action of forty-four States, and to-day there are probably 
not over eight or ten that have pure-food laws that are at all effective. 

Senator Harris. Of course, that matter could be adjusted as he 
suggests. Such a law would be competent, but those States having 
such a law would have some advantage over the others and that would 
lead to the introduction of such a law in every State. 

The Chairman. Yes; that would be an advantage in the long run, 
but the temporary advantage would be with those who could sell 
cheaper articles under a false name. That would be a temporary 
advantage. 

Mr. MoNRED. If it is impracticable to have a national law, it seems 
to me that if we had a national law allowing each State to have a 
trade-mark — the Sauerhering bill suggested that — that each State that 
had a pure-food law could give the manufacturer a State brand. 

Senator Harris. The only waj^ I can suggest that would operate in 
all the States, and the best way out, is to go after them with a double- 
barreled shotgun. 

The Chairman. Yes; we have just passed a pure-food law in this 
State, which I understand is very effective, but does not go into effect 
until a year from next July. That will give them a chance to work off 
their surplus acid and glucose, I presume. 

F p 5 



66 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

STATEMENT OF MR. ALLEN MURRAY, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows, to wit: 

The Chairman. What is your business, Mr. Murray? 

Mr. Murray. Drug and spice milling. 

The Chairman. Where is your place of business? 

Mr. Murray. 147-155 West Polk street. 

The Chairman. When you speak of drug and spice milling, you 
mean that you manufacture drugs and grind spices? 

Mr. Murray. Grind drugs and grind spices; and I might put in 
there drug and spice milling and importing. 

The Chairman. Take the spice question first. We are a committee 
representing — appointed by the United States Senate to investigate 
what foods are adulterated and what are deleterious to health and 
what are not. We have no disposition to pry into a man's trade 
secrets. We want, however, all the facts which are proper in order 
to make an intelligent report to the Senate. In the matter of grinding 
spices, I will ask you, first, do you adulterate spices in the process of 
grinding? 

Mr. Murray. Spices are adulterated. We have adulterated spices 
in grinding them. 

The Chairman. You grind them to order for others? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is the common adulterant used in spices? 

Mr. Murray. There are mixtures for different spices. Some of 
them are made of cocoanut shells and some are made from buckwheat 
middlings. 

The Chairman. By middlings you mean the buckwheat bran? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir; buckwheat bran. 

The Chairman. And a few peanut shells? 

Mr. Murray. I do not know. 

The Chairman. Do you grind these shells yourself? 

Mr. Murray. We have ground them for the trade ; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Would you object to giving the committee the 
names of your customers? 

Mr. Murray. I would not care to do that. There are men here 
who make a business of selling mixtures. 

The Chairman. That is, preparing these mixtures for adultera- 
tions — for use? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Take the spice known as allspice and pepper; the 
adulterant used in both of these is pretty much the same, is it not? 

Mr. Murray. I do not know that I ever adulterated allspice. 

The Chairman. How about pepper? 

Mr. Murray. I have had to adulterate pepper. 

The Chairman. You have? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir; when the goods were sold and ordered that 
way for the trade at certain prices and sold as adulterated goods. 

The Chairman. Well, they were so marked on the outside? 

Mr. Murray. We had nothing to do with the marking. We sent 
them to the man who had them made. 

The Chairman. You were simply acting as agent in the manufac- 
ture? 

Mr. Murray. That is all. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 67 

The Chairman. If you had a customer like my friend Brother 
Stewart there, or some other good merchant, who should order a barrel 
of pepper at a price less than the pepper itself cost, you would have 
to put in a certain amount of these shells? 

Mr. Murray. Certainly; or whatever the man might select. 

The Chairman. Whatever he thought was the best adulterant? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Well, now, as a matter of fact, Mr, Murray, you 
liave competitors in this business? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And you can not live if you do not adulterate, can 
you? 

Mr. Murray. There are certain competitors that do adulterate, and 
it has got into the position where, unless we are treated alike — well, 
I will say this, that there is a certain line of goods that are considered 
commercial goods, that are manufactured and sold as such — for 
instance, commercial cream of tartar; and there is another article 

The Chairman. Commercial cream of tartar is not cream of tartar 
at all, is it? 

Mr. Murray. There is some that has not got very much in it. 

The Chairman. How much do j^ou manufacture, Mr. Murray? 

Mr. Murray. We do not manufacture very much. We had an 
order the other day for 5 barrels to go to Canada. We do not keep 
it in stock at all. It is manufactured as ordered. 

The Chairman. It is made of alum, is it? 

Mr. Murray. There is no alum in it. 

The Chairman. I do not want any trade secrets. I want, for the 
information of the Senate, the knowledge 

Mr. Murray. The commercial cream of tartar costs about 5 cents 
a pound, while the pure is worth about 21^ cents a pound. 

The Chairman, Well, that which is known as commercial cream of 
tartar differs from the real? 

Mr. Murray, Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. There are several articles, are there not, that are 
used as a substitute for cream of tartar — for instance, alum? 

Mr. Murray. Alum is not used except in making baking powder. 

The Chairman. There it is substituted? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you use alum? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir; it is just as good as cream of tartar, I think. 

The Chairman. There is a difference between the medical experts' 
opinions as to that. 

Mr. Murray, I think that alum is just as healthy for the stomach 
as cream of tartar. If properly neutralized, there is no alum in bak- 
ing powder. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture baking powder? 

Mr. Murray. Not to any extent. We used to. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture alum that goes into baking 
powder? 

Mr. Murray. No, sir. 

The Chairman, Do you grind any alum at all now? 

Mr, Murray. No, 

The Chairman, Or prepare any alum in any other way? 

Mr, Murray. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you grind any coffee? 



68 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Mr. Murray. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Well, you know in a general way what your com- 
petitors use, do you not? 

Mr. Murray. No; I don't know that I do. I never was in a drug 
or spice mill in my life, except our own. I commenced about thirty- 
five j^ears ago. 

The Chairman. You have built up quite a large business? 

Mr. Murray. And employ a great many people; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And employ a great many people? 

Mr. Murray. About thirty. 

The Chairman. And your factory is right on this street, is it not? 

Mr. Murray. No; it is on Polk street — the west side. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture any article or goods that have 
your name on for food? 

Mr. Murray. No; not for food. We stencil our barrels and boxes 
and spices; we put our stencil on them, and guarantee them strictly 
pure; and if they are not pure we do not charge men anything for 
them. 

The Chairman. When you say they are strictly pure they are 
strictly as ordered? 

Mr. Murray. Yes sir — well, I do not know — we carry in stock red 
pepper and cassia. All spices are ground pure. If a man wants it 
ground, he buys it and it is made for him especially. If he wants 
cassia and orders it, he gets it strictly pure. 

The Chairman. Well, but suppose he orders it in such a way that 
it means so many cocoanut shells? 

Mr. Murray. Then we make it for him, and he knows it. 

The Chairman. You do not brand that, do you, by stencil? 

Mr. Murray. We do not put our name on it. We simply say it is 
a barrel of so and so. We do not state whether it is pure or not, but 
in pure goods we put on "strictly pure" or "pure." If a thing is 
pure, that is strictly pure. 

The Chairman. Well, these goods that are ordered from you are 
usually bought by the jobbers in this city? 

Mr. Murray. Well, I do not know. 

The Chairman. Well, generally speaking? 

Mr. Murray. Not so much as they are from tlie outsiders — among 
scheme men — men who give away a cow or a mule, or a horse and 
wagon when you buy 10 pounds of nutmeg. 

The Chairman. Do you prepare for the retail trade at all? 

Mr. Murray. We have nothing to do with the retail trade. We 
do not sell to them at all. 

The Chairman. Don't you prepare any canned goods or jars of 
peppers to be sold at retail? 

Mr. Murray. No, sir; our goods are all sold in barrels and boxes. 

The Chairman. And to the wholesale trade, according to their orders? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. I want to say right here that wholesale 
trade does not, as a general thing, order these goods adulterated. It 
is some of these outside fellows that have schemes or something of 
that kind. 

The Chairman. You mean they are offering for sale a new baking 
powder, for instance, and advertising and offering to give away cer- 
tain things? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir; certainlj^ — what they call scheme goods. 

The Chairman. What other adulterants do you use under orders 
for your customers? You have mentioned peanut shells and cocoanut 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 69 

shells. You use sometimes, do you not, what is known as pepper 
flour — pepper dust? 

Mr. Murray. Yes; pepper shells. 

The Chairman. And in cinnamon what do you use? 

Mr. Murray. Mixtures of cinnamon and shells. 

The Chairman. What kind of shells in cinnamon — ground cin- 
namon? 

Mr. Murray. Coeoanut shells. 

The Chairman. Anything else? 

Mr. Murray. Sometimes there are some mixtures made. We do 
not make mixtures; we buy our mixtures. Mixtures are made of 
flour, and are colored and baked and ground up into mixtures. 

The Chairman. Just plain flour? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Corn or wheat flour? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. They are colored when mixed. 

The Chairman. How are they colored? 

Mr. Murray. I do not know that. 

The Chairman. You do not do any coloring, do you? 

Mr. Murray. No, sir. 

The Chairman. But occasionally have to use it? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you mix it in cinnamon? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, and spices. 

The Chairman. Where do you buy that, Mr. Murray? 

Mr. Murray. Sometimes I buy it in Philadelphia, and sometimes 
here in town. 

The Chairman. Whereabouts in Chicago? What number and street? 

Mr. Murray. Well, I do not know as it is necessary to tell that? 

The Chairman. I thought it might save the committee some work 
later on. I shall not insist upon an answer. Well, in the adulteration 
of mustard, what do you use in grinding? 

Mr. Murray. Why, mustard, I believe, is generally adulterated 
with flour and turmeric. 

The Chairman. Flour and turmeric are both harmless — not consid- 
ered at all deleterious to health. 

Mr. Murray. No; but I think some of the State laws do not allow 
it used — do not allow the mustard even to be colored. Some mus- 
tards are colored even without being adulterated. It is a handsomer 
looking article when colored than without. In the State of Michigan 
you can not sell mustard or any other article that is adulterated. They 
do not allow any coloring matter in it. 

The Chairman. Do you grind any cloves? 

Mr. Murray. Yes. 

The Chairman. What do you use in these? 

Mr. Murray. Clove stems are used. 

The Chairman. What are they? 

Mr. Murray. The stems which cloves grow on. 

The Chairman. It has a slight flavor of cloves, has it? 
. Mr. Murray. Yes, sir; it makes very good cloves. You can get 
strictly pure cloves. 

The Chairman. What do you use besides clove stems? 

Mr. Murray. I do not think we have ever used anything except 
cloves in the articles we sell. 

The Chairman. What do you think is the largest and most impor- 
tant bit of grinding you do over there? 



70 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Murray. That is ground? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Murray. What do you mean — in spices? 

The Chairman. Yes; in spices. 

Mr. Murray. Well, black pepper and cinnamon. 

The Chairman. And mustard? 

Mr. Murray. We do not grind mustard to anj'^ extent, only to order. 
We have the highest grades of mustard which are used 

The Chairman. What in the drug department do you manufacture 
that goes into articles of food? 

Mr. Murray. I do not think there is anything in the drug depart- 
ment that goes into food. I do not recollect any item that would be 
strictly a drug that would go into food, unless it is a little prutzeneil, 
that ladies buy to make colored cake, and some in confectionery. 

The Chairman. It is harmless? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. So far as coloring matter that you grind, there are 
only a few of them that are used substantially in confectionery, are 
there not? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you know of any that are used in confectionery? 

Mr. Murray. Any coloring matter? 

The Chairman. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Murray. No; I can not say that I do. 

The Chairman. Do you furnish any goods from your factory used 
in the manufacture of baking powder? 

Mr. Murray. We used to; not of any account now. We did at one 
time. 

The Chairman. You do so now? 

Mr. Murray. Very little. 

The Chairman. What is that article? 

Mr. Murray. Burnt alum. 

The Chairman. They manufacture that largely themselves, do they 
not, when they want it? 

Mr. Murray. No. The burnt-alum business is rather a long story. 
I do not think you would care to hear it; but the price used to be about 
24 cents, and it finally got down to 3^ cents. There was a patent on 
the use of burnt alum, to begin with, and I fought it for three years 
and beat the patentee. The decision was in our favor. The manu- 
facturers themselves wanted to burn it, and they reduced the price to 
3^ cents, and we went out of the business. 

The Chairman. So that now no burnt alum is used in the manu- 
facture of baking powder? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Where are these manufacturers located — what 
cities? 

Mr. Murray. It is manufactured in Buffalo and in New York Citj'-, 
The Pennsylvania Salt Company are the largest manufacturers of it. 
They manufacture here in this city. 

The Chairman. You do not happen to remember the street and 
number where this factory is located in this city? 

Mr. Murray. The Grant Baking Powder Company manufacture 
their own ; they used to, at least. 

Senator Harris. Your business, Mr. Murray, seems to have two 
branches. One is the manufacture of your own goods, which you 
have in stock, and the other is the manufacture of goods to order? 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 7l 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. That applies both to the drug and spice depart- 
ments, I suppose? 

Mr. Murray. Not so much to the drugs as to the spices. 

Senator Harris. I will take the spice department. You stated 
awhile ago that the goods when manufactured and kept in stock are 
absolutely pure. 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Not adulterated? 

Mr. Murray. No, sir. 

Senator Harris. When a man wants to buy pure goods he gener- 
ally buys what you have in stock? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. If he wants the adulterated article, he gives you 
orders to manufacture it? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir; gives the order and we make it for him. 

Senator Harris. Now, what percentage does your business divide 
itself into? What percentage is done to order and what percentage 
is sold from stock — I mean in the spice department? 

Mr. Murray. About one-twentieth. Not over 5 per cent of our 
business is adulterated; I mean we do not have orders for adulterated 
goods to the extent of over 5 per cent. 

Senator Harris. Five per cent is done on order? 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Is that the proportion in drugs? 

Mr. Murray. I do practically the same kind of business in the drug 
department. 

Senator Harris. You have certain drugs ground which you have in 
stock which are pure, and then you will manufacture adulterated drugs? 

Mr. Murray. We have to have a few orders. We have formulas 
to grind for certain manufacturers. We put up formulas for hog 
cholera, etc. These we grind to order and mix to order. 

Senator Harris. These are mixtures, and very often the ingredients 
of these mixtures are not pure drugs. 

Mr! Murray. Well, in most cases they are. Some are not. 

Senator Harris. I remember several years ago having some conver- 
sation with a druggist in which black antimony was mentioned, and 
he said there was no such thing as pure black antimony. 

Mr. Murray. There is such a thing, or what is called " commer- 
cial" antimony and "needle" antimony. 

Senator Harris. It seems to be an adulterated article. The term 
"commercial" usually means something adulterated. 

Mr. Murray. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. You have had an extensive experience in the spice 
business, and what would l)e your opinion as to the proportion of 
impure goods and pure goods which are sold throughout the country? 

Mr. Murray. I would not be prepared to say that, because we are 
small dealers in spices — in ground spices. Most of our sales in spices 
are made to the drug trade, and the drug trade are small dealers in 
spices. Mr. Stewart will sell more spices in a month than we do in a 
year. 

Senator Harris. With your knowledge of the business, do you 
think that one-half of the ground spices and things of that character 
that are sold throughout the country are pure? 

Mr. Murray. I am not prepared to say. 

Senator Harris. You have no opinion on that? 



72 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Mr. Murray. Well, I could not say, because I never travelea' 
among the trade and do not know the proportion sold. 

Senator Harris. I think you said you had been in the business 
thirty years? 

Mr. Murray. I have. 

Senator Harris. It certainly seems to me that a man being in that 
business for thirty years in one place, like you have, would know. 

Mr. Murray. If I wanted to show only what I have done, I could 
tell you, but I can not tell what other people have done. 

Senator Harris. I am trying to get your opinion on the broader 
field of an expert in that particular line. I should certainly think 
you would have some opinion as to the general character of the goods 
on the market that you are competing with all the time. 

Mr. Murray. Well, I can not say that; as far as the retail trade is 
concerned, I do not supply any retail trade. 

Senator Harris. I am speaking of the manufactured articles that 
are on the wholesale market. 

Mr. Murray. At the same time, Mr. Harris, you might buy as 
many as 5 barrels of strictly pure pepper of me and take it home 
and fix it up and sell it in cans, and I would not know it. 

Senator Harris. Do you suppose such a think is done — ever done? 
It seems to be in your mind. The inference naturally would be that 
such things had been done. I am jDcrfectly fair. What I want to get 
at is an intelligent idea from a man of your experience, and intelli- 
gence, and knowledge of the trade as to whether or not there is an}^ 
just cause of complaint on the part of the public as to the purity of 
ground spices and things of that kind that are sold. 

Mr. Murray. I should think there was just cause of complaint. 

Senator Harris. To what extent — how far; what proportion of 
these goods are sold? 

Mr. Murray. I am not prepared to say. I do not know. I can 
not tell you There is no use of my going into a thing of tliat kind. 

Senator Harris. You would have an opinion whether there would 
be 50 or 25 per cent? 

Mr. Murray. No, sir. 

Senator Harris. Now, let me put it in another way. Do most of 
the men who grind spices do practically the same kind of business 
that you do here in the city? 

Mr. Murray. I am not prepared to say. I never was in their spice 
mills. 

Senator Harris. You have a general knowledge of the trade? 

Mr. Murray. I don't know that I came up here to swear to what I 
don't know. 

Senator Harris. They have goods which they sell, and receive 
orders for manufacturing other goods. Your business is not an excep- 
tional one, I believe. Is that the general way? 

Mr. Murray. I could not say that. I could not answer that ques- 
tion. I could not tell what the spice millers do. I never looked into 
it, because I never knew anything about their orders. 

Senator Harris. It seems to me that the drj^-goods merchant here 
would know how the other drj^-goods merchants do business and see 
that it is the same way that he does, and the drug men knew how the 
other drug men do business. They all do business substantially on 
the same general lines. Your business is not exceptional. Other 
spice manufacturers and spice-grinding establishments do business 
substantially in the same way you do. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 73 

Mr. Murray. Well, I should think the only way to learn that would 
be to call them upon the stand. I can not swear what I do not know. 

Senator Harris. Well, I will not press the question. I would be 
be very glad to see something that would bring about a change in our 
general way of doing business. 

STATEMENT OF MR. GREAME STEWART, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. Mr. Stewart, you have been kind enough to volun- 
teer to give us the benefit of your knowledge and experience. I will 
ask you, what is your business? 

Mr. Stewart. I am a wholesale druggist ; I am director of the W. M. 
Hoyt Company. 

The Chairman. How long have you been in business, Mr. Stewart? 

Mr. Stewart. Thirty-two years. 

The Chairman. You understand fully the scope and intention of 
this committee, and I want to question you first and briefly as I can 
in regard to the question of coffee. There are some samples of coffee 
which you have been kind enough to bring to the committee. I will 
say to Senator Harris that Mr. Stewart came of his own free will. 

Mr. vStewart. I will say. Senator, that before I am examined I 
would like to make a statement in regard to the necessity of a national 
pure-food law. The various States throughout this country — Mich- 
igan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other States — have passed 
pure-food laws, and in the distribution of merchandise — some kinds 
of merchandise — I find that at times errors are very likely to crop in 
in the shipping of goods in these States on account of the lack of uni- 
formity, as the law of one State differs from the law of another, so that 
for the last ten years the merchants and manufacturers of Chicago have 
been clamoring for a national j)ure-f ood law, in the same manner that 
we clamored for a national bankruptcy act. It requires a lawyer for 
each State to know what the requirements are in each State in order to 
know the rules that prevail in them. With that understanding I will 
be glad to answer any questions. 

The Chairman. Your idea of a national law is to have it uniform? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; so that we can shij) goods without fear of 
violating any local law. I would like to have a national law to 
expedite business. 

The Chairman. Now, one of the complaints made is that foreign 
countries are able to ship into this country food products which they 
are not permitted to sell in their own country. 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; particularly in coffee. There are samples 
of it [indicating samples on tal)le]. These samples of coffee are 
shipped from Brazil and from Hamburg and reshipped to this coun- 
try. There is nothing in those samples but dead beans and sour beans. 

The Chairman. Is it sometimes known as "black jack." 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; that is the trade name for it. 

Senator Harris. It is a coffee bean? 

Mr. Stewart. It is the overripe beans, which we call dead beans — 
after they have become musty and sour. 

Senator Harris. You have there about a pound? 

Mr. Stewart, About half a pound. 

Senator Harris. Well, say half a pound of the product of coffee, 
and it has the appearance of coffee. It is coffee? 

Mr. Stewart. It is sold as that. 



74 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Has it any particular value for the stomach? 

Mr. Stewart. None. The drinking of that coffee, in my opinion, 
creates a perverted taste. It is just like some other stuff that I 
know of. 

The Chairman. Now, what I want to get at — was this article which 
is known as ' ' black jack " shipped in that state to Germany? 

Mr. Stewart. It is never shipped like that from Brazil. 

The Chairman. How is this procured? 

Mr. Stewart. Coffeeishand picked in Germany. Germany receives 
coffee sometimes in the hull and sometimes in the bean, and then it is 
hand picked. 

The Chairman, Well, now, I want to get this in the record. Now, 
then, this is jjicked out of the hull coffee in Germany? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And it makes what is called "black jack," which is 
not salable in Germany? 

Mr. Stewart. Can not be sold there. 

The Chairman. But what is sold is imported into this country and 
mixed with sound coffee here? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is this stuff worth? 

Mr. Stewart. At the present time the price of that is very high, 
because there is a large demand for it. 

The Chairman. How much? 

Mr. Stewart. Five cents a pound. 

The Chairman. When it is mixed with coffee how much does the 
mixture sell for? 

Mr. Stewart. It depends upon how it is prepared and put up. 

The Chairman. Now, you would recommend to this committee, 
would you not, to have passed an absolute law prohibiting the importa- 
tion of this stuff to this country? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; prohibiting the importation of this coffee or 
any other coffee with black beans in it. 

The Chairman. It is not only a fraud, but is unfit for consumption? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you samples here of coffee that contains any 
of this "blackjack?" 

Mr. Stew^art. Yes, sir; there is some. [Shows sample.] 

The Chairman. That looks like good coffee. 

Mr. Stewart. The Senator probably is familiar with it. He sees 
stuff like it in his coffee. 

The Chairman. What makes it shine? 

Mr. Stewart. It is a preparation put on to hide the defects and 
cover up the fraud. It reduces the shrinkage also. 

The Chairman. You have, as I understand it, competitors in every 
branch of your business, and in coffee particularly? 

Mr. Stewart. I think so. 

The Chairman. Is this largely done? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Have you any means of knowing, Mr. Stewart, 
what is the amount of importation for any one year of that class of 
coffee? 

Mr. Stewart. I have not. The custom-house records will show, 
except the amount of Guatemala coffee, which may come from Europe. 

Senator Harris. We could not import from Germany anything 
except that class of coffee? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 75 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, we could, because the export market is lighter 
than it is in this country.' 

Senator Harris. Then the trade is influenced owing to the condi- 
tions of the market? 

Mr. Stewart. Under natural conditions they would not ship ftny 
coffee to us, because the freight charges are excessive. 

Senator Harris. You have no way of knowing 

Mr. Stewart. No; but if the consumption of this kind of coffee is 
prohibited in this country it will make a reduction of 25 per cent in 
the amount of coffee sold. 

Senator Harris. I have been in Rio Janeiro and I have seen the 
process of curing coffee, and any change in the weather and large 
amounts of coffee will be mildewed and spoiled. 

Mr. Stewart. That can be avoided. They have machinery in Bra- 
zil whereby they treat it in such a way that it comes out a very fair, 
decent coffee. 

Senator Harris. That is what failed under treatment and spoiled 
in that way? 

Mr. Stewart. No; I think not. This is the result of poor handling 
and probably some atmospheric change. I have never been in 
Brazil 

Senator Harris. You say 25 per cent. Do you mean the exports 
from Brazil would be reduced 25 per cent? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; to this country. We use mostly Brazil 
coffee; 11,000,000 bags are imported. 

The Chairman. How much in a bag? 

Mr. Stewart. Twenty- five pounds in a bag. 

The Chairman. What would you suggest now so as to prevent that 
practice of deceit regarding coffee? 

Mr. Stewart. I made the suggestion prohibiting the importation 
of coffee with black beans in it; also prohibiting the use of glazing 
in coffee, because there is nothing you can put in coffee that will 
improve it. They improve it for the sight to sell it; it is not improved 
for drinking. 

The Chairman. What do they use in the process of glazing? 

Mr. Stewart. Gum tragacanth, glucose, and gum. I have not the 
formula with me. 

The Chairman. Anything to shine it up. 

Mr. Stewart. That is not any secret. Everyone in the trade does it. 

The Chairman. Yes, but if the public — we are not in the trade and 
we want to know. It is a secret to me — a revelation to me. 

Senator Harris. So far as the trade is concerned, this is only a small 
part of the total adulteration. Of course, if this is considered an 
adulteration, of course there are many other things that enter into 
the coffee trade besides this. 

Mr. Stewart. This is practically the only adulteration that I know of. 

Senator Harris. How about chicory? 

Mr. Stewart. Nobody uses chicory any more. When coffee got 
to the price that was practically the same price as chicory there was 
no inducement. The consumer in buying his coffee in the berry — 
they could not adulterate with chicory, because the consumer would 
know. 

Senator Harris. I am speaking of ground coffee. 

Mr. Stewart. Nobody sells any ground coffee. 

Senator Harris. What do you sell? 

Mr. Stewart. We do not sell any. 



76 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. In every little country store one sees ground coffee, 
so called. 

Mr. Stewart. Perhaps tliat is true in little country stores. They 
have packages of coffee that has this kind of adulteration. 

The Chairman. I think in our small stores you buy it, and they 
have these small mills there and grind it in the presence of the 
consumer. 

Mr. Stewart. That is the general practice. 

Senator Harris. I have seen spices and ground canned coffee sold. 
I saw, coming into your city this morning, advertisements of Lion 
coffee. 

Mr. Stewart. That is it. It is made by the trust. 

The Chairman. What about it? 

Mr. Stewart. Lion coffee is sold in paper packages with this stuff 
in it to make it look nice and to deceive some good housewives into 
the idea that it is self-clarifying. 

The Chairman. Are there not two or three large concerns, such as 
Arbuckles, that are competing with you? Do you handle any of their 
coffee? 

Mr. Stewart. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Did you ever see any of it? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is it made of? 

Mr. Stewart. It is made of that grade of coffee. 

The Chairman. With black-jack mixed? 

Mr. Stewart. There is black-jack in it. 

The Chairman. Do you know what per cent? 

Mr. Stewart. No, sir. 

The Chairman. These are the packages that are so commonly used? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; what the masses are drinking to-day. 

Senator Harris. In the importation of such coffee known as "Bra- 
zil " — that is mixed with a better grade of coffee. 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. It requires hand picking to get it out? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; although in Brazil they have some machin- 
ery now, I believe, that enables them to take it out. 

Senator Harris. They could free it. I suppose the gravity is dif- 
ferent. 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. You say b}^ prohibiting the importation of this as 
the trade is now carried on — you would prohibit the importation of all 
coffee unless pure and genuine. 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir; they could do it. 

Senator Harris. It would force them to make a selection. 

Mr. Stewart. It would force them to send to this countrj^ a better 
grade of coffee, and if shijjped into this country it would require it 
to be hand picked. I want a better grade of goods offered to the con- 
sumers in this country. Good goods are cheap enough, Lord knows, 
without going into this stuff'. 

Senator Harris. That is simply your view when you are buying or 
selling? 

Mr. Stewart. I claim pure goods are cheap at any price. 

Senator Harris. I notice that that coffee that you say is mixed 
with this black-jack and glazed has a sort of a sticky feeling and shiny 
appearance. If the people were ordinarily posted in that — if the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 77 

ordinary layman or business man or workingman had the same infor- 
mation now that you and I have, they would not choose that. 

Mr. Stewart. I would not. 

Senator Harris. It is apparent upon its face. If you examine it, 
you can see. I have pickecl out of that 15 or 20 dead beans. Do you 
contend that they contain any injurious elements? 

Mr. Stewart. I have handled coffee all my life. Senator, and I 
have alwaj's believed that black beans in coffee were worse than an 
adulteration ; worse than chicory or anything you can put in. 

Senator Harris. Is there a chemical analysis that you can use to 
compare? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes ; I can get it. 

Senator Harris. It may be a worthless material which does not give 
any caffeine and does not give the quality which you would like, but 
makes bulk without strength. You think it is a deleterious property? 

Mr. Stewart. I think so. 

The Chairman. You handle a great many jellies? 

Mr. Stewart. We do not manufacture any. 

The Chairman. You handle them? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You sell them according to what your customers 
want? 

Mr. Stewart. We buy what the trade demands. 

The Chairman. Do j^ou have any information, personally 

Mr. Stewart. No; I have not. 

The Chairman. Or jams, the same? 

Mr. Stewart. No. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture sirup? 

Mr. Stewart. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Have joii anything you could — I saw you in Wash- 
ington, Mr. Stewart, representing the merchants here, and had sev- 
eral conversations with you in regard to teas. Last year we passed 
a law putting 10 cents a i)ound on imported teas. What effect has 
that had in the character of the tea? 

Mr. Stewart. Just exactly what I told you at the time, and Senator 
Tillman and others interested in the matter. It has had the effect of 
shutting out the importation of all poor, trashy stuff. It has raised 
the price of tea, and while there was one package sold here there is 
now a hundred. The other stuff is shut out. Coupled with the fact 
of the passage of legislation regulating the importation of tea, the 
standards that have been adopted by the American trade are higher, 
and they are to-day consuming the best tea in this countrj^ of any 
country in the world, Russia excepted. The same would be true of 
coffee in the United States if they would put a duty on coffee. All 
this stuff would have to stay out. 

The Chairman. They could not afford to pay 10 cents or 3 cents a 
pound on that black-jack? 

Mr. Stewart. No, sir. 

The Chairman. What is that [indicating]? There is another box 
of coffee there. 

Mr. Stewart. That is simply for comparison. That is what we 
call "plain roast" and the other is "glazed roast." 

The Chairman. Where does this coffee come from? 

Mr. Stewart. From Brazil ; port of Santos. 

The Chairman. What is the price of this coffee? 



78 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PE0DUCT8. 

Mr. Stewart. In the green condition, Senator, or roasted? 

The Chairman. Well, roasted. Just this one [indicating]. 

Mr. Stewart. Nine cents a pound in bulk. 

Senator Harris. This is the same, but it is a different grade from 
this [indicating]? 

Mr. Stewart. I am talking about the preparation of the plain 
roast and the glazed roast. You will notice there are no black beans 
in that [indicating]. 

The Chairman. Was this coffee separated here? 

Mr. Stewart. Brought that way from Brazil. 

The Chairman. They have the same process — it is hand separated? 

Mr. Stewart. No; I think by machinery. A number of concerns 
have put in large plants doing that work, especially in the higher 
grades and better grades of coffee. 

Senator Harris. I would like to ask Mr. Stewart regarding another 
matter. He handles spices? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Take spices, I would like to know if you have 
any opinion as to the iiroportion of adulterated goods? 

Mr. Stewart. Six years ago we discontinued the handling of any 
kind of spices except strictly pure, and turned them out under our 
own brand with a guaranty on every package. We did not manu- 
facture for jobbers, but only for our own trade. 

Senator Harris. You sell to the retail trade? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What Senator Harris wants to get at is your opinion 
as to the amount of adulterated spices that are sold. 

Mr. Stewart. Well, my opinion would not be worth very much for 
this reason, that seven years ago we stopped handling scheme goods. 

The Chairman. This term has been used here this morning several 
times, applying to commercial this and commercial that, which means 
an adulterated article. Is that largely used in the trade; is it a well- 
defined portion of the general trade? 

Mr. Stewart. I think not. I think, as a-rule, the wholesale grocers 
who have roasting and grinding plants of their own and who make a 
business of grinding spices are handling a pretty good class of goods; 
but I do believe that those people who handle carts and hay rakes 
and buggies and give them away with a hundred pounds of spices 
must handle a pretty poor grade of goods. They must make money 
somehow, but how I do not know. 

The Chairman. You can tell, as a grocer, something about the 
purity of imported goods compared with pure goods by the price list. 
When you see an article below a certain point, you know it can not be 
pure. 

Mr. Stewart. Certainly. 

The Chairman. Do you find in the trade a larger proportion of the 
goods in spices than of other goods? 

Mr. Stewart. Certain goods are put on the free list. The prices 
are very low, and I think they have found it difficult at times to find 
adulterants that would go in. 

The Chairman. That has had a tendency to reduce adulteration. 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. We had it testified to this morning that the duty 
had a tendency to increase the purity of a certain class of goods. 

Mr. Stewart. That is so. I am talking about it from a hygienic 
standx^oint. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 79 

Senator Harris. As arriving at certain resnits which are hygienic. 
Now, in the articles such as jellies and preserves, do you think they 
are generally pure goods? 

Mr. Stewart. I do not believe there is 5 per cent of the jellies sold 
that are pure. I do not believe that. I am saying that from what I 
see going out in tubs and in retail stores and everywhere. 

Senator Harris. The adulterations are chiefly in the way of glu- 
cose? 

Mr. Stewart. They i3ut in glucose a very small per cent and acid 
of some kind to make it. 

Senator Harris. What would be your idea of arriving at the purity 
there, by requiring them to be branded? 

Mr. Stewart. My idea, Senator, is not to prohibit tlie sale of any- 
thing of that kind; that it shall be branded and sold for wliat it is. 

Senator Harris. As oleomargarine dealers are required to do? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. But suppose it is difficult to distinguish the fact 
that some of these glucose combinations are unhealthy? 

Mr. Stewart. I would not say that. 

Senator Harris. It is only a question of honesty in dealing. 

Mr. Stewart. To prevent the dishonest cutting of prices by job- 
bers and retailers. Many sell glucose jelly for half price, and you 
can't understand it. 

The Chairman. And the same would apply to honey? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture honey? 

Mr. Stewart. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You keep no bees? 

Mr. Stewart. No. 

The Chairman. Your opinion would be much the same as to that? 

Mr. Stewart. Yes, sir. I have a very strong idea and opinion in 
regard to the branding of all goods just what they are. It applies 
equally to baking powder, as I learned the other day. The law of 
Minnesota requires them t-o put on the labels just what is in the boxes, 
but it does not apply to imported things, only that which it produces. 

The Chairman. That is, tlie chemical reaction? 

Mr. Stewart. No, sir; that is an unimportant thing very few con- 
sumers know. I do not believe that Mrs. Mason or Mrs. Harris, when 
.they go into a retail store and ask for baking powder, providing the 
formula is on the label of the can, would know what amount or what 
was going to be produced. I think the i^ure-food law ought to state 
that on the label — every can, box, or barrel. 

STATEMENTS OF C. S. N. HALLBERG, 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows : 

The Chairman. Where is your residence, Mr. Hallberg? 

Mr. Hallberg. 34 Elaine place. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Hallberg. I have no business; I have a profession. 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Mr. Hallberg. I have been editor of the Western Druggist for 
several years. Since 1890 I have been professor of pharmacy at the 
Chicago College of Pharmacy, Chicago University. Since 1890 I have 



80 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

been a member of the committee on the revision of the pharmacopoeia 
of the United States, 

The Chairman. Revision of the laws relating to pharmacy? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. By whom were you appointed on that committee? 

Mr. Hallberg. Since 1820 the delegates meet in Washington every 
ten years from all the medical and pharmaceutical societies of the 
United States. This convention chooses its members, 25 members, 
and these members issue a work which is the standard of authority 
for medicine. The reason I refer to this is because outside of phar- 
macy — that is, outside of medicine — there is no standard for the iden- 
tity, quality, purity, and strength of natural substances. I believe 
that a national law should be based upon a work of standard authority, 
prescribing and defining what natural substances are, their deriva- 
tion, composition, the strength, purity, and quality, just as we have 
in medicine. Take the example here of coffee. Coffee in the phar- 
macopoeia is defined as the seed of the Caffea arahica. Cloves are 
defined in the same way. Now, if there was a standard for these sub- 
stances when they are not used in medicine, such questions as you 
have discussed here this morning would not be necessary to discuss, 
because the immature seeds of the coffee which have been shown here 
this morning do not contain any appreciable amount of the principle 
which the seed must contain in order to be coffee as defined by the 
pharmacopoeia. It contains scarcely any caffeotannic acid. In the 
same way with cloves, the stems of which and the expanded flower in 
which cloves grow contain scarcely any oil of cloves, which is the val- 
uable principle of cloves. 

With the exception of a few articles which the Government has 
seen necessary to fix a standard for, such as the lime test in kerosene, 
and such as the qualitj^ of sugar when there is a bounty to be paid, as 
was the case some years ago, the value of the sugar being determined 
by a polariscopic test, as has been done recently with flour — aside from 
these few instances, there is no standard whereby you can measure 
the quality, the purity, the strength of these substances. And this 
is necessary. Furthermore, I believe that a national law and nothing 
short of a national law will be sufficient. As Mr. Stewart has referred 
to, these laws in various places are often deficient, and for the most 
part they are administered by persons who are either unqualified or 
ignorant, as is the case and has been in the last four years in the 
State of Ohio. They founded a commission in Ohio last year, formed 
of two inferior chemists in Cincinnati, to examine Scott's cod-liver 
oil, and they reported that it was loaded with morphine. Examiuation 
afterwards showed that there was no morphine in it. Anyone familiar 
with the situation would know that there could not possibly be any 
morphine in it. The food commission of the State of Ohio was placed 
in jail. Last year I went to New York for this firm, as thej^ were 
having all sorts of trouble. That is one of the facts in connection 
with a State law pertaining to foods. The administration of a national 
law must be placed under the supervision of a national board of health. 
So many questions come up pertaining to the adulteration and sophis- 
tication and substitution of foods that can not be settled except by a 
scientific medical research, that even our present exceedingly laborious 
and valuable Department of Agriculture can not settle this question. 
There are so many illustrations of the complications that exist with 
reference to this question. Your witnesses here will make one asser- 
tion and in the next few minutes will contradict the same assertion. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 81 

Mr. Murray, for example, here said that ahini, when neutralized, 
would not be any more as alum in the bread. Now, of course, he is 
no chemist. He should not lay himself liable to any such statement 
as that. The question of whether or not alum is an irritant poison to 
the system, as has been testified to by Dr. Wiley, has not as yet been 
entirely settled. I hold that it is absolutely necessary that we should 
have a national board of health, or a department, in fact, of health, 
which would have branches and work in conjuntion, if necessary, 
with the Department of Agriculture to settle these disputed ques- 
tions for a definite standard, with certain limitations as to the qual- 
ity and strength and purity of these various substances. Take the 
question of the use of antiseptics, as was referred to and as was shown 
by Dr. Wiley. Antiseptics should not be entirely prohibited, but 
their use should certainly be limited. Now, where should the limita- 
tion be? Should we rel}^ upon the various manufacturers to use their 
own judgment in the matter? Certainly not. The limit must be 
placed by high medical authorities, after thorough investigation. If 
you will permit me, I will call your attention to a phase which has 
been agitating the people of this country the last few months which 
has a direct bearing upon this question. According to the testimony 
of the men that were most vitally interested in the manufacture and 
preserving of canned goods — according to their testimony the article 
called canned roast beef was made by first boiling and abstracting a 
large per cent of extract. Then this beef residue was put in cans and 
subjected to high heat in retorts, that being said to be the roasting 
process. This beef is unfit for our food, as was shown by Professor 
Liebig when he published the Process for the Manufacture of Extract 
of Beef, with which his name is so associated. He called attention to 
the fact that the extract did not represent the nutrition of the beef. 
He warned the medical profession against falling into the belief that 
an extract of the beef would be a substitution for the beef itself. He 
also studied out that, while the nutrition, the fibrin — that is, the 
fiber, the strength of the meat — is chemically the same as egg white 
and does not represent the nutrition of the beef, at the same time 
its digestion and assimilation were dependent upon the presence of 
the principles represented in the extract, and that, while therefore 
these substances represented the total nutritive quality of the beef, 
they should not be used singly. Now, if we had a national board of 
health, for example, where questions of this kind could be referred 
and settled, we would avoid all of this trouble about such articles as 
canned roast beef. 

The Chairman. And the question of beef extract, Mr. Hallberg? 

Mr. Hallberg. Even this canned roast beef has a certain use. 
We get it practically once a week when we get boiled beef, but I 
never eat boiled beef without horseradish or mustard. No boarding- 
house keeper who knows her business would give it more than once a 
week, because the substances have been taken out of it for complete 
digestion and complete assimilation of the beef. I simplj^ want to 
come before your honorable committee and lay before you what I 
believe are necessary conditions for a law. I believe that is the ulti- 
mate object of your committee, the drafting of a law. I do not believe 
I have anything to add except this. I am opposed to the idea which 
has been advanced here by nearly all of the witnesses, that all that is 
necessary is to state on the label what the composition is of the sub- 
stances. I believe that there are many things that are used in foods 
r p 6 



82 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and food products which are deleterious to our health and should be 
absolutely prohibited. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Hallberg. These are so largely used. 

The Chairman. I think, Professor, if you will let me say — I think 
that nearly every witness here who has testified has had his attention 
called to deleterious things. For instance, like the use of terra alba 
or white earth or barytes in flour. You think these things that are 
deleterious to health should be prohibited? 

Mr. Hallberg. The so-called dairy expert who stated that he was 
not a chemist and testified to the use of skimmed condensed milk 
stated that it itself was not objectionable ; that it was a pure food. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Hallberg. That is not the case. There is no telling how 
many infants may have been starved and died from the use of milk 
made from such condensed milk. What an infant needs in its 
growth the first and second years more than anything else is fat — is 
the butter fat — and therefore the feeding of an infant, without know- 
ing it, with milk made from such an article — skim milk which has 
been deprived of the fat — is a species of slow murder and should be 
prohibited. These people who buy this do not understand it. As 
Mr. Stewart has stated, the people do not know the reaction, the 
chemical reaction, that will take place in a certain mixture. In bak- 
ing powder, therefore, simply a statement of the formula or composi- 
tion would not be sufficient protection. Now, there are a great many 
things that are in the same category. As far as I am concerned, I 
would no more think of buying a sugar preparation made up of glu- 
cose than I would think of buying this black jack for coffee. I know 
that the question is disputed. There are chemists that will say that 
glucose is healthy, and there are chemists that will say it is unhealthy. 
So you may go through the entire class. I believe that nothing short 
of some high authority working in conjunction with the Agricultural 
Department, that should have experts engaged who would study these 
questions and then report to the people and absolutely prohibit every- 
thing that has been proven beyond question to be deleterious to health, 
would be sufficient. 

The Chairman. Then, in your opinion, glucose used as a substitute 
for malt in beer would be bad? 

Mr. Hallberg. Not to the extent that it would be a substitute for 
sugar if used to preserve, because the sugar from the malt is converted 
into glucose in the making of beer. All sugar, in fact, has to first be 
converted into glucose before it can ferment. This is the difference 
between sugar and glucose. Sugar can not ferment; it has to be 
changed into glucose first, and then the glucose will ferment and form 
alcohol. 

The Chairman. You prefer beer made of hops and malt to beer 
made of glucose? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You think that every other consumer ought to have 
that privilege? 

Mr. Hallberg. I would like that he should have it. There may be 
others that differ with me. 

The Chairman. It certainly could not do j^ou any harm if you 
wanted glucose beer to be advised of it in advance. When you buy 
it you ought to have the privilege of knowing what you are buying. 

Mr. Hallberg. Senator, I am afraid you are not sufficiently 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 83 

advanced in chemistry to understand the fine point that I tried to 
draw. 

The Chairman. I think I understood what you were sajdng. 

Mr. Hallberg. You can take glucose that is made on Taylor 
street, and you can, by the introduction of a ferment, convert that 
into a kind of beer. Now, that is almost the same, except the taste and 
color, and by manufacturing the glucose from barlej^ malt and allow- 
ing that to ferment you make a beer. You have got to have glucose 
in both instances. The difference is, glucose is made from corn and 
the other from barley malt. All whisky is made from glucose. The 
starch of the corn is changed first into glucose, and then glucose is 
fermented and turned into alcohol. 

The Chairman. If you had a board of national food commissioners 
or health commissioners, or any other board, under, j^ou say, the Agri- 
cultural Department, you would give them power to make rules and 
regulations in regard to the branding of foods? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir; and make limitations. 

Senator Harris. Your idea, as I understand it, is that they should 
examine all of these articles and establish certain standards below 
which none should go. 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. In regard to the use of glucose in beer and every- 
thing else, you are simply discussing what you think the most effective 
means at arriving at an end, as to which course seems to be the most 
desirable. You assume that there is an immense amount of adultera- 
tion that should be stopped. 

Mr. Hallberg. I know it. 

Senator Harris. Not alone adulteration, but an immense amount 
of selling of articles which are not only adulterated but are deprived 
of the essential qualities that they should have, such as condensed 
skim milk. 

Mr. Hallberg. "We classify and differentiate these into three 
classes — adulteration, sophistication, and substitution. The direct 
substitutions are the most imijortant of these divisions. If you will 
allow me an illustration, the Government collects a duty on opium, as 
you know, and there used to be a great deal of adulteration of opium 
introduced in this country, and the United States pharmacopoeia 
defined a minimum limit of morphine contained in opium, which is 9 
per cent. 

Senator Harris. You say that opium to be called opium must con- 
tain 9 per cent of morphine? 

Mr. Hallberg. At least. Now, the revenue department of the 
Government examines all opium that is imported in this country and 
does not permit any opium imported into this country unless it con- 
tains 9 per cent of morphine. That shows the value of a standard. 
We could fix a standard in coffee. We could make various grades of 
it. We can say that one grade of coffee can contain 10 per cent of 
caffetannic acid, and that would be an excellent criterion, because 
this black-jack contains scarcely any. This black-jack is simply the 
immature seeds, and the full growth of the plant has not been reached, 
hence the caffetannic acid has not been developed in these seeds, due 
to the lack of proper nourishing or some condition of that kind. That 
is not an adulteration. That would be sophistication. I might add 
this for the benefit of the committee. Take the composition of milk. 
There are various means adopted and certain ordinances are passed 
fixing a limit for the value and consistency of milk. For example, 21^ 



84 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 

per cent of fat and 5^ per cent of sugar, and so on. That has done a 
great deal toward improving the quality of the milk. Before there 
was a standard fixed there was nothing to go on, simply the ordinary 
attributes, the only test being by the eye and the nostril. You can 
see how it would be when a man could spend his whole life sitting day 
by day testing tea samples bj^ tasting. I do not see how he can pos- 
sibly arrive at the real consistency of the tea by the taste. Far better 
would it be to have a chemical analysis and know what the tea should 
consist of; fix a limit and have them come up to that standard. 

Senator Harris. Of course, in testing they have other tests — the 
scent and weight and feeling and general appearance. But you think 
the best way is by establishing a standard adopted by the United States 
Government? 

Mr. PIallberg. That is the only correct process, and I think it can 
be done. That principle could be extended to nearlj^ everything. 
Take spices. We have no per cent of the actual principals in spices. 
We can fix a minimum limit and exclude everything else that is not 
up to the standard. 

Senator Harris. Professor, you know the process of adulterating 
spices by using cocoanut shells. Is that soluble in the stomach? 

Mr. Hallberg. About as soluble as are the integuments that con- 
sist in the spice itself. Take for example cloves. Now cloves flower, 
for that is what we know as cloves — the flower of the plant. That 
flower contains anywhere from 10 to 15 per cent of volatile oil, and 
that volatile oil of cloves is what represents the flavor of the cloves. 
In addition to that it contains a little resin. That gives the pungency. 
Now these substances that have been mentioned as adulterants do not 
contain any of these principals. They are not deleterious. An}^ of 
these that have been mentioned are not deleterious, they are simply 
a cheat on the public. Now, Mr. Murray spoke of powdered capsi- 
cum. If there is a pound of pure powdered capsicum in Chicago I 
am willing to swallow this book. It consists chiefly of red brick dust. 

Senator Harris. What is capsicum? 

Mr. Hallberg. It is the fruit of the plant cayenne pepper. It is 
called red pepper because it comes from Cayenne, one of the provinces 
of South America. It is so infernal hot and pungent that if they sold 
the pure powdered red pepper no one could possibly use it, and it is 
found necessary to reduce it mostly by brick dust. A little of it goes 
a long way and there is no especial harm done. 

Senator Harris. You do not think brick dust is just the thing to 
take into the stomach? 

Mr. Hallberg. Oh, I don't know. I think it is a splendid thing 
sometimes. It is one of the very best things that can be taken into 
the stomach for many complaints. If you will allow me I will next 
say a word on the question presented by Senator Harris this morning, 
in connection with the substance black antimony. You are correct 
regarding the absence of black antimony in the market. There has 
not been any for years except in chemical specialties. What has been 
sold for black antimony is a mixture of powdered coal dust. Farmers 
used to use this largely as an ingredient in hog powders — to feed the 
hogs and kill the hog cholera. Within the last five years there has 
not been any black antimony used of any consequence, because the 
farmers found that by burning some corn they could get better results 
than they got from black antimony. There is where an imitation 
proves to be a good thing, because it led the farmers to see the great 
value of the grain for chemical purposes, and the farmers now burn 
corn to prevent hog cholera. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 85 

Senator Harris. That is a substitution? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. What is black antimony? 

Mr. Hallberg. It is a sulphide of antimony. One of the ores of 
antimony; the kind that Brice tried to make f<old out of. 

Senator Harris. Of course, as you say, it is a question of means to 
an end. You therefore are of the ojjinion that the appointment of a 
properly qualihed national board to investigate all these questions 
and to fix standards would be the simplest and most direct method to 
arrive at the end, and then, of course, that would have to be enforced 
by a law which would i^rohibit the sale of anything falling below the 
standard prescribed by this board. 

Mr. Hallberg. Just so; except, perhaps, possibly under certain 
restrictions. 

Senator Harris. There might be some latitude allowed under cer- 
tain circumstances? 

Mr. Hallberg. Some things should be prohibited. 

Senator Harris. Of course, those that are deleterious. 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You would prohibit the use of white claj' in flour? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. I would put a limit on all antiseptics. 
No wine should be sold except with a minimum percentage of salicylic 
acid, boric acid, and all these things. 

The Chairman. Those which are used for the purpose of preserving 
wines and beer? 

Mr. Hallberg. Cider is now preserved chiefly with a fluoride of 
ammonia or soda, one of the most powerful disinfectants that we have. 

The Chairman. Do you consider it deleterious if much is used as a 
preservative? 

Mr. Hallberg. This fluoride of soda, when it decomposes, furnishes 
hydrofluoric acid. That: is what is used to etch glass. It is the only 
substance known that can not be kept in glass bottles. It has to be 
kept in hard-rubber bottles. As to its effect in the stomach, I will 
leave you to draw your own conclusions. 

Senator Harris. Take the duties of this board — you say there is 
no such thing as a pound of pure capsicum, and there is a sort of 
reason for reducing its strength by reducing it by substances. Do you 
think the duties of this board should go so far as to prescribe the 
standard strength of capsicum, and should it also enter into the field 
of saying what should be used to weaken it? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. That it should prescribe some harmless substance 
which would weaken it, or would j^ou leave it to the common sense of 
the public? 

Mr. Hallberg. No ; I think they might designate what would be the 
dilutant. That is done by the pharmacopoeia. There are diluting 
powders occasionally, and there is a dilutant i^rescribed, chiefly sugar 
and milk, which are inert and having no deleterious effect. 

Senator Harris. Now, take the question of condensed skim milk. 
Could the duties of a board go any further than to require the manu- 
facturers of condensed skim milk, which may be used for manj^ pur- 
poses, not onlj^ for the nourishment of an infant — would you prescribe 
a standard or would you prohibit its use altogether. 

Mr. Hallberg. There is no use for milk except for nutritive pur- 
poses, and because of that it should be prohibited. 

Senator Harris. You do not mean to say that there is absolutely 
no nutrition in skim milk? 



86 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Hallberg. The community can not afford to permit a condi- 
tion which will make it possible for an ordinary person to buy a certain 
kind of food when his very life or health may depend upon the quality 
of that food. 

Senator Harris. Well, if it was branded. You can not go so far as 
to take away all the nourishment. Now, skim milk has some nutri- 
tion. Of course, it is not as good as what is called whole milk. Of 
course it don't pretend to 

Mr. Hallberg. I do not know sufficiently to have an opinion on 
that. That is the way I feel from a hygienic point of view. There 
may possibly be some reasons for a modification, but I believe the 
principle should be that where anything has been decided unequiv- 
ocally, that it is injurious to health it should remain, as it prolongs life. 

Senator Harris. You must see a difference between what is abso- 
lutely injurious and what is not nutritious. 

Mr. Hallberg. It is very hard, Senator, to do that. 

Senator Harris. Now, an infant may be able to live, just as a calf 
can be brought up, on skim milk. It will not be so robust a child or 
so robust a calf as if it had whole milk. It is like ,you said a while 
ago. It is more or less a process of starvation if continued long 
enough, but I was only getting at your idea how far this board should 
go in prohibiting. 

Mr. Hallberg. That is a matter that would have to be decided 
by very careful work and by men of the very greatest ability. It can 
not be done by alleged experts, by the average manufacturer. It 
must be done by men that have devoted their whole life to the subject. 

Senator Harris. Wouldn't it be a step in advance if we could have 
everything labeled clearly as to substance and sold under true colors? 
That would be a great step in advance. 

Mr. Hallberg. Not a great step. It would be a step, but not a 
great step. 

Senator Harris. Well, if we had a law which would make them 
show clearly the extent of the adulteration, it seems to me a very 
large amount would be stopped if the people could see what they are 
buying — were told the composition of it. 

Mr. Hallberg. What good would it do to have large labels con- 
veying information that is merely technical? It might state in the 
case of baking i^owder that it would contain gypsum or plaster of 
paris. Many must contain that, because a great deal of the cream of 
tartar is half gypsum, and the average housewife would not know 
what gypsum meant or its injurious effects. 

Senator Harris. There is a mooted question as to the extent to 
which alum is injurious. 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. If we knew that baking powder contained no alum, 
we would get the benefit of the doubt? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. If they marked them for what they are, we could 
then choose. 

Mr. Hallberg. But it is something that is very much abused. We 
have proceeded on that line in drugs and medicines outside of the 
pharmacopoeia — that is, in articles that are unofficial the compounder 
has to print on the labels what the ingredients are — the formula — 
and it has now been in vogue largely more than ten or fifteen years. 
It has been so much abused that there is no longer any faith attached 
by the buyers or the users of the formula on the label. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 87 

The Chairman. Well, they would not know an honest formula; is 
that the idea? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes. 

The Chairman. Of course, if there was a law enforcing it, that for- 
mula would have to be honest; and if on chemical analysis it was found 
to be dishonest, the manufacturer would have to suffer the penalty. 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes; that would be done, but it would be very 
difficult to enforce laws of that kind, because organic chemistry, which 
is invaluable, is only in its primitive stages in this country. There 
are very few chemists that are able to make a correct examination of 
any food product. 

Senator Harris. Do you think that the adulteration of drugs has 
been carried on to a very great extent in this country? 

Mr. Hallberg. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. I do not know, Mr, Chairman, whether the drug 
question comes under our jurisdiction or not. 

The Chairman. Except whei-e it is detected in food. Dr. Wiley 
says that everything that goes into the stomach is food. 

Mr. Hallberg. Well, there are flavoring oils and preparations of 
that kind which always come under the food definition. 

The Chairman. He says all drinks are legally and technically foods. 

STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE C. REW 

Who, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. Wliat is your business, Mr. Rew? 

Mr. Rew. I am a chemist. 

The Chairman. What is your address? 

Mr. Rew^. 38 Michigan avenue. 

The Chairman. Have you taken any special course in chemistry? 

Mr. Rew^. I took a general course in the University of Michigan. 
This question I had in mind — from what I understood from the 
remarks of Professor Hallberg — I understood him to question Mr. 
Murray's statement, that in properly prepared alum baking powder 
there would be some alum left in the food prepared with this baking 
powder. As a matter of fact, when alum and bicarbonate of soda 
are mixed in their equivalent proportions there will not be one parti- 
cle of alum left in the food prepared with such baking powder. Now, 
to start with, all alums, and there are many of them, are double sul- 
phates of sodium and aluminum, in which the sodium may be re- 
placed by potassium or ammonia and the aluminum by iron or 
chromium. All baking powders are alike in that they contain bicar- 
bonate of soda, the alkaline ingredient which furnishes the leavening 
gas, the gas which in escaping puffs up the bread and makes it light. 
Baking powders difl:'er in the nature of the acid matters used to 
neutralize this soda and to free the gas. These acids may consist of 
cream of tartar, tartaric acid, alum, acid phosphate of calcium, or any 
solid acid salt, such as sulphate of sodium. Practically there are only 
two classes of baking powders on the market that have any great 
sale. They are the cream of tartar baking powder, now manufactured 
by the Baking Powder Trust, and the alum and phosphate baking 
powder. These two classes of baking powders are named for con- 
venience cream of tartar baking powder and alum baking iwwder, 
but as a matter of fact the consumer eating food prepared with cream 
of tartar baking powder does not take into his stomach one particle 
of cream of tartar. He eats Rochelle salts. 



88 ADULTERATION" OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

When bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar react upon each 
other in the oven the resulting substances are carbonic-acid gas, 
which in escaping puffs up the dough, and Rochelle salts. This 
Rochelle salts is the active ingredient of seidlitz powders. That is, 
when you eat food prepared with cream of tartar baking powder, you 
are taking into your stomach a quantity of seidlitz powder. Now, as 
to the amount of this residue, the best cream of tartar baking powder 
on the market contains about 28 per cent of bicarbonate of soda. To 
neutralize this quantity of soda 62.6 per cent of cream of tartar will 
be required. This quantity will leave in the food 70 per cent of 
anhydrous Rochelle salts, such as we find in drug stores to-day, 
and such as we get when we take a seidlitz powder. A teaspoonful 
of baking powder weighs about 200 grains, and will make 14 ounces 
of bread or 12 good-sized biscuits. From that 200 grains of baking 
powder we would have left in the food 188 grains of Rochelle salts in 
the bread or the 12 biscuits. That is, in that amount of biscuits there 
would be a Rochelle-salts residue of about 17 gi-ains. Now, with the 
alum-phosphate baking powder, take an alum-phosphate baking powder 
of the same strength as the above cream of tartar baking powder — that 
is, 28 j)er cent of bicarbonate of soda — this soda is neutralized with 
acid phosphate of calcium and sodium alum. In an alum-phosphate 
baking powder of good quality about 20 per cent of alum is used. 
The balance of the alkali is neutralized Avith acid phosphate. The 
residue left in the food from the action of this powder will be a 
hydrate of aluminum and sulphate of soda, resulting from the de- 
composition of the alum, phosphate of calcium and phosphate of 
sodium resulting from the decomposition of acid phosphate. As far 
as our health is concerned, the latter may be left out entirely. Now, 
an alum-phosphate baking powder which contains 20 per cent of alum 
will leave in the food about 6 per cent of its weight of hydrate of 
ammonia and about 20 per cent of its weight of sulphate of soda. The 
best authority that has ever investigated this subject is Francis Sut- 
ton, and he determined, by experimenting on living animals, that 
this hydrate of aluminum was not soluble in digestive juices, and was 
excreted by animals in the same condition in which it was taken into 
the stomach, the sulphate of soda, chemicall}^ having almost identi- 
cally the same physiological action as Rochelle salts, the residue which 
is left after the reaction of the cream of tartar baking powder. 

Now, these are the chemical facts in regard to the residue left after 
these baking jDowders are used, and as a general proposition it looks 
to me as just that all food products should be labeled as to what they 
contain and the public informed of this chemical action which takes 
place. When they buy baking powder made of alum they think they 
are getting alum, and when they buy baking powder made of cream 
of tartar they think they are getting cream of tartar. As a matter of 
fact, they get no alum in the former case and no cream of tartar in 
the latter case. If we caused the labeling of baking powder, it seems 
to me the most just way would be to require the manufacturer to print 
upon his label the names and amounts of substances left in the food 
products after the use of baking powder, so that the consumer might 
know that when he eats food prepared with cream of tartar baking 
powder he is taking seidlitz powder, and when he eats food prepared 
with alum baking powder he does not get any alum; he gets Glauber 
salts and aluminum. There is a violent prejudice in the public mind 
against alum-phosphate baking powder. This is kept alive bj^ various 
kinds of advertising and results in benefit to some baking powder 
manufacturers. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 89 

Senator Harris. The result being practically the same, why do the 
manufacturers persist in using the alum-phosphate jDowder instead of 
the other; is it cheaper? 

Mr. Rew. Because the alum-phosphate powder retails for 25 cents 
a pound and cream of tartar 50. 

The Chairman. You spoke of Glauber salts. What is that? 

Mr. Rew. Sulphate of soda. 

The Chairman. Is it a coarser grain than Epsom salts? 

Mr. Rew. Do you refer to it in its crystallized form? 

The Chairman. Tliat is what we used to use for physicking a horse. 

Mr. Rew. Yes, sir. That Rochelle salt exists in the food to the 
extent of 70 per cent, while Glauber salts remain in the food to the 
extent of 29 per cent. 

Senator Harris. Well, then, this whole theory of this chemical 
reaction depends upon the actual process and preparation. Suppose 
the conditions are not proper, then you may have absolute alum left, 
may j^ou not? 

Mr. Rew. Well, the best answer to that is, all baking-powder 
manufacturers use starch to dilute their mixtures and get the gas 
percentage they wish. If they are going to use more alum than the 
soda would neutralize, they would then be adulterating or filling 
their baking powder with alum, and starch is a very much cheaper 
substance, and no baking i^owder nmnufacturer would use more alum 
than his soda required, for commercial reasons. If he was going to 
dilute with anything, he would turn to the cheapest material, which 
would be starch. He would probably not put in more alum. 

Senator Harris. He might not have the exact proportion which 
would enable these chemicals to react. 

Mr. Rew. It is possible to have powder manufactured which would 
leave some alum if he did not have enough soda to counteract. I 
never have found such baking powder. 

The Chairman. What is your address? 

Mr. Rew. 38 Michigan avenue. 

The Chairman. Are you connected with any baking powder com- 
pany? 

Mr. Rew. Yes, sir; the Calumet Baking Powder Company. 

The Chairman. A notice in their care would reach you? 

Mr. Rew. Yes, sir. 

Tlie Chairman. I do not care to go on further to-day. We have 
had a continuous session of three or four hours. 

The committee adjourned. 



Chicago, Mmj 9, 1899—10.15 a. m. 
The committee met pursuant to adjournment. 

STATEMENT OF MAURICE H. SCULLY. 

Maurice H. Scully, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: 
By Senator Mason: 

Q. What is your name? — A. Maurice H. Scully. 

Q. What is your occupation, Mr. Scully? — A. Manufacturer of and 
dealer in sirups and molasses. 

Q. With what house are you connected? — A. D. B. Scully Sirup 
Company. 



90 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. How long have you been in that business? — A. Since 1877 — 
twenty-two years. 

Q. That company has been in business twenty-two years? — A. I 
have been connected with that company for that time. 

Q. Part of your business is the manufacture of sirups, I under- 
stand? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. How many different kinds of sirups do j^ou manufacture? — A. 
Well, we manufacture a great many grades of sirups. Others we 
mix — what we call blend. It is hard to say just how many. 

Q. I suppose you have a great many different names for them? — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And many sirups of almost the same quality go under different 
names? — A. That is it; the same price and the same quality, but 
different colors, possibly under different brands. 

Q. About how many different ones? You have a very extensive 
business, have you not? — A. Well, I suppose it would be called an 
extensive business in our line. Of course, it is a specialty line. If 
you figure the grades of all brands there would be 30 or 40 grades. 

Q. And a good many more than that number of brands? — A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. Where is your factory, Mr. Scully? — A. We are at the present 
time located at South Water street and Wabash avenue. 

Q. Do you manufacture any sirup from the start, either cane or 
corn? — A. Well, we manufacture rock-eandy sirup and maple sirup, 
which, of course, is made from the sugar. 

Q. You say you manufacture rock-candy sirup, but you start out 
with the sugar? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In making sugar you reach the sirup stage before you reach the 
sugar, as I understand it, in making sugar, originally? — A. In mak- 
ing the candy, yes ; we boil to a liquid first, and then it is converted 
into candy afterwards, and then the sirup comes from the candy still 
afterwards. 

Q. In manufacturing sirup what ingredients do you use? — A. Well, 
it depends, of course, on the grade of sirup. Senator. The corn sirup 
is mixed by adding glucose to a percentage of cane sirup. Neither of 
those products do we manufacture. 

Q. Then when you have a blended or mixed sirup of cane and corn 
sirup, when you say you manufacture the sirup you mean you simply 
mix them? — A. Yes; in that sense, yes. 

Q. Sometimes giving them a different color? — A. Yes. 

Q. The committee would like to know, Mr. Scully, without going 
into any trade secrets, in a general way, if it can be done without 
injury to any legitimate part of your business, what colorings you 
use? — A. The coloring used in corn sirup is the cane sirup itself. 
There is no coloring matter added whatever. There is a larger per- 
centage of cane sirup added to a dark corn sirup than there would be 
to a light corn sirup. 

Q. Then, as a matter of fact, in blending these sirups and making 
different grades based on color, the only color used is in the sirup 
itself?— A. That is all. 

Q. And the same of a light corn sirup — you use the lighter sirup? — 
A. Yes. 

Q. And the same of the cane sirup, the darker sirup? — A. Yes; 
that is it, exactly. 

Q. Now, you speak of manufacturing maple sirup. How do you 
manufacture maple sirup? — A. Ordinarily, maple sirup is made by 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 91 

melting the maple sugar into a liquid of the proper consistency. A 
great deal of the sirup, however, comes right from the maple bush or 
sap maple. That we sell just as we get it. 

Q. When you sell maple sirup, do you always guarantee that it is 
maple sirup? — A.. A certain grade we do. 

Q. Then there are ditferent grades of maple sirup? — A. Yes; we 
handle three grades of maple sirup. One we guarantee to be pure, 
the other two we don't. 

Q. Those that are pure maple sirup are marked pure maple sirup? — 
A. Yes. 

Q. And those that are not are also marked maple sirup? — A. Also 
marked maple sirup. And when they go into different States that 
have a pure-food law the formula is printed on the outside, showing 
just what the ingredients are. 

Q. When they don't go into a State that has a pure-food law they 
simply go in marked maple sirup? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There is no formula printed on the outside, as I understand, for 
the State of Illinois?— A. No. 

Q. You have stated what the ingredients are of the pure maple 
sirup. Now, I wish you would state, for the benefit of the committee — 
take your second grade of maple sirup. How do you make that? — A. 
Well, that is 60 per cent pure maple and 40 per cent glucose. 

Q. Now, take your third grade of maple sirup. — A. That has a less 
percentage of maple and a larger percentage of glucose. 

Q. That is practically all of the adulterants which you use in mak- 
ing maple sirup? — A. Yes. 

Q. You have competitors making maple sirup all over this country, 
haven't you? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any adulterants that they use? — A. I do not. I 
don't believe they use any outside of glucose. 

Q. You base your opinion, then, simply upon what you have heard 
about it? — A. Yes, and what I learn by v^ay of observation, etc. 

Q. You never heard of hickory bark being used to give it a maple 
flavor? — A. Not successfully. There have been a great many things 
put on the market as maple flavors, but none of them have amounted 
to anything. 

Q. You think it was too easily detected? — A. Yes. 

Q. Are damaged sirups or soured sirups reboiled and made over? — 
A. Yes ; they can be reboiled and brought back to their original sweet- 
ness, or almost so. 

Q. What is done with that? — A. That is reboiled and used again in 
a small way in other sirups. 

Q. But taking a soured sirup that has been reboiled, you can't get 
it quite back to its original sweetness, can you? — A. I should think 
not, successfully; not quite so; but it can be used without being 
detected. I don't speak of maple sirups in this. Maple sirups, when 
they ferment, you can't do anything with them. You can't use them. 

Q. You don't retail in your business at all, as I understand? — A. 
No, we don't. 

Q. You furnish the trade? — A. Yes. 

Q. That is, you sell to wholesalers and to merchants — retail mer- 
chants? — A. Yes. 

Q. Those people who buy, do you make your sirups according to 
their orders? — A. No; we have certain grades which we sell for what 
they are worth. 

Q. Well, take your second grade of maple sirup, how does it com- 



92 ADULTERATION OB^ FOOD PRODUCTS. 

pare in value with the first grade in selling? I don't care to ask for 
your prices. — A. About 20 per cent less in value. 

Q. And the third grade? — A. Perhaps 25 per cent lower than that. 

Q. So far as your experience goes, maple sirups, when thej^ are 
adulterated at all, are adulterated with glucose? — A. That is all. 

Q. And so far as your experience and knowledge go, they have no 
other adulterants? — A. No, sir. 

Q. When you make a p^re maple sirup you make it from maple 
sugar? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Maple sirup, as a matter of fact, in making it the sirup stage is 
reached before it is ever turned into sugar? — A. Yes, sir. 

■Q. So that when you make majjle sirup out of maple sugar, assum- 
ing that you have control of the product from its inception from the 
raw material to the finished product, you have made practically 
double the expense and labor when you put it into sugar and get it 
back into sirup? — A. Yes. The object, however, in putting it into 
sugar is to keep it through the summer. It keeps better in the sugar 
form. It will keep any length of time in the sugar form, but we 
could not keep the sap through the summer, and the demand for 
maple sirup begins in the fall. That is the principal reason why they 
put it in the solid form. 

Q. But will not maple sirup keep if it is thick, heavy, natural 
sirup? Wouldn't it keep through the summer? — A. No; not very 
well. It will keep if it is hermetically sealed, but in the sugar bush 
they haven't facilities for putting it up iDroperly. 

Q. Isn't this true, Mr. Scully, that the more you refine maple sugar 
the less there is of that maple flavor? — A. I don't think that would 
apply after the first boiling. I think the sap maple has the delicate 
flavor of the maple, and after that I don't think it would change after 
that one boiling. 

Q. Well, if you were to refine it clear down to the sugar, it would 
throw off: that maple flavor entirely, wouldn't it? — A. I don't believe 
it would; no. 

Q. You never have tried that? — A. Oh, we have melted it two or 
three times and found no change in it. 

Q. What I mean is, when j^ou put it to the state of granulation the 
sugar quality of maple sugar is practically the same as cane sugar? — 
A. Yes. 

Q. When it is granulated. Isn't that true? — A. I don't quite catch 
the question, Senator. • 

Q. Perhaps I don't make myself clear. What I wanted to say was, 
if it is true, and I don't want it if it is not, that making the sap into 
sirup and carrying it beyond the sirup stage into the sugar stage, 
and then melting it back again, because you have to put water in 
when you melt it to take the place of the sap that has been evaporated — 
that in that process it maj^ lose some of the maple-sugar flavor. — A. 
I think in the first operation it does, but you might follow that up 
afterwards and it would make no change. 

Q. I see what you mean. 

(The chairman here produced a can of sirup.) 

Q. This is called " Golden Glory Fancy Table Syrup." Do you put 
up any cans like that? — A. Yes, we do. Senator. 

Q. This is brought from the Davenport Refinery, Davenport, Iowa. 
On one side it says: "80 per cent corn sirup and 20 per cent sugar 
cane." You mark them, as I understand, in that way when they are 
sent into States which compel it? — A. Yes. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 



^S" 



Q. But those that are sold in this State are not so marked? — A. There 
is no formula on that sold in this State, because there is no require-' 
ment of that kind. 

Q. Mr. Scully, what do you say as to national legislation upon this 
subject as to uniformity, and whether there ought to be? — A. I think 
that is the better plan if we are to have pure food. It would be well 
to have them all alike. As it is now every State has different ideas, 
and we have to put different formulas on goods going into different 
States. It is verj^ complicated and annoying. 

Q. By marking differently for different States you are liable to 
involve yourself in trouble innocently?— A. Yes. 

Q. You would be very willing to mark the ingredients on each one 
of your packages if your competitors did? — A. Yes; we would be very 
glad to. 

Q. In manufacturing sirup, do you use anything in your factory 
besides sugar, either from corn or cane — either cane sugar or corn 
sugar or maple sugar, I mean? — A. No; we do not. 

Q. Then, I understand, in your factory, in the manufacture of 
sirups, you have no deleterious substances, unless these three articles 
which you have named are deleterious? — A. Nothing. 

Q. You have no artificial color, nothing to give it weight, or any- 
thing of that kind, except the things j^ou have named? — A. I might 
say occasionally we would add a flavoring, such as vanilla flavor, or 
something of that kind, but in a very slight way, just to flavor certain 
grades. It is only to a limited extent. 

Q. You put in vanilla sometimes in order to adulterate the maple 
sugar, don't you? — A. No; we don't use it for that purpose, but we 
use it in a sirup such as j'^ou have in the can there — a vanilla-flavored 
corn sirup. 

Q. And that vanilla flavor, do you get from the vanilla bean? — A. 
From the vanilla bean. 

Senator Harris. Mr. Scully, this can is, I suppose, put up to com- 
ply with the law of the State of Iowa? — A. The State of Ohio, I think. 

Q. It is manufactured in Iowa? — A. Yes. 

Q. What does this so-called formula mean? I don't see that that 
explains anythingvery much. As you are an expert in sirups, I would 
like to know what idea this would convey to you : "80 per cent corn 
sirup, 20 per cent sugar sirup." That is, it would be 80 jier cent glu- 
cose? — A. 80 per cent glucose and 20 per cent cane sirup, which is 
manufactured in Eastern refineries. 

Q. You speak of some flavoring matter. This is not called maple 
sirup. Is this sirup flavored? — A. No, that is unflavored. 

Q. Would it be a disadvantage to your trade, even in States that 
had no law requiring it — would it be a disadvantage to you to put the 
statement on your cans that certain grades of your maple sirup con- 
tained glucose? — A. I think it would in this way: I think retailers 
would object to it. 

Q. They are all sold as maple sirups? — A. Yes. 

Q. And if the fact were stated that a part of it was glucose it would 
injure it even at the reduced price at which it was sold? — A. Yes. 

Q. You make a distinction in price, of course? — A. Yes, sir. So far 
as we are concerned it would make no difference to us, because we 
sell the goods to him as they are. We don't represent to the buyer 
that they are pure when thej^ are not pure. 

Q. The buyer, I suppose, knows from the different prices fixed? — 
A. Yes. 



94 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. That one is pure and the other grades are more and more 
impure? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. But of course the purchaser buys it as maple sirup from the 
retailer? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is, supposing he is getting pure maple sirup. But your 
idea is that if there was a national law that compelled all to do this 
it would of course be just as profitable to you as if there was no dis- 
tinction? — A. Just as profitable in every way. Even much better 
than the way it is now. 

Q. It would remove the element of doubt and suspicion, and people 
would know just what they were buying? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you regard glucose as having aiiy objectionable qualities other 
than a sort of a dilution of the maple sirup itself — weakening it? — A. 
Do I regard it as -deleterious? 

Q. As having any deleterious effect whatever? — A. No, I don't. 

Q. It simply weakens it? — A. That is all. It makes the flavor less 
strong. 

Q. That is all, I believe, Mr. Scully, unless you wish to say some- 
thing. 

Witness. I have a set of samples I brought over to Dr. Wiley. He 
can look them over at his leisure. [Witness here produced the 
samples referred to.] If you will give me a moment. I brought over 
some samples at the request of the Doctor. They will represent the 
difference in colors of the same grade of goods [exhibiting the different 
grades] ; both of the same quality, but one colored a little more by 
adding cane sirup. 

Q. One is just as pure as the other? — A. Yes. Both are blended 
goods. 

Q. Those are neither of them pure maple sirups? — A. No. Now, I 
have two samples of maple, one of which is pure and the other is 
not [exhibiting same]. 

Q. The darker one is the purer? — A. Well, there is very little dif- 
ference in the colors. The darker one happens to be less pure this 
time. 

Q. Have you a sample there of sirups which contain some of this 
sour sirup which has been reboiled? — A. No ; there is very little of it 
sours. There is not a package comes back to us in two months, pos- 
sibly. Perhaps in the early fall there is a little comes in from having 
stood over the summer. That is used up shortly, and then we have 
no more of it. 

Q. Do you use anything in the shape of an antiseptic preservative 
to prevent fermentation? — A. No; nothing of the kind. 

Q. Not even where you reboil sirups? — A. No; we never use any- 
thing of that kind. 

Q. I remember some experiences, as a boy, in the sugar bush when 
we used to use soda, or something of that kind. — A. No; we do not. 

Q. To neutralize the acid. — A. I see. We tried, in years gone by, 
salicylic acid, or something of that kind, but we gave it up because 
we didn't think it would do any good or be effective in any wa}^ 

Q. There is nothing of that sort used now as a preventive of fer- 
mentation? — A. No; not a thing. 

Q. Which is the one which contains the greatest proportion of 
glucose? — A. This would be the one [indicating same]. 

Q. That is what percentage? — A. Forty per cent of glucose and 60 
of maple. 

Q. This is pure maple sirup [indicating the other sample]? — A. 
Yes. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 95 

The Chairman. Where do 3^011 buy that pure maple? 

Answer. The sugar couies principally from Vermont and Canada. 

Q. Do you know yourself that it is pure maple? — A. Yes; I think 
so. In Vermont, especially, they have a very stringent law against 
turning out sugar as pure when it is impure. In Canada the sugar is 
unquestionably pure. 

Q. You say that occasionally in Vermont you have had reason to 
think that pure maple sugar was not pure? — A. No; I didn't say that. 

Q. I beg your pardon. That that which comes from Canada is some- 
times impure. — A. No. In Vermont they have a very stringent law 
on that, so we have every reason to think that every package that 
comes from there is perfectly pure. In Canada we are quite sure 
that it is pure, because it is a very strong maple and we don't doubt 
its purity. Of course, we have to go a great deal upon our own judg- 
ment and taste. 

Senator Harris. How are these two grades of sirup brought so 
nearly to the same color, Mr. Scully? 

Answ^er. By using, perhaps, a darker maple for one and a lighter 
for the other. 

Q. You don't use brown sugar, or anything of that kind, for coloring 
matter? — A. No. Occasionally we might use a little brown sugar, but 
not generally. 

Q. They are practically undistinguishable, as far as coloring goes? — 
A. Yes; these samples are. 

The Chairman. What is that light bottle? 

Answer. That is rock-candy sirup. 

Q. What is that used for? — A. That is used principally in soda foun- 
tains these days, for making soda water. It is also used by rectifiers in 
blending their liquors. 

Q. Then when it is used by the soda fountains it is simplj^ flavored 
and colored to suit the name of the bottle? — A. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. That is the rock-candy sirup? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. The pure sugar? — A. Pure rock-candy sirup. 

The Chairman. It is melted pure sugar, isn't it? 

Answer. Rock-candy sirup is the sirup which would come off of the 
the rock cand}^, out of the rock-candy pans. It is first melted and 
put into the rock-candy pans, and the rock candy forms on those 
strings. 

Senator Harris. Crystallizes? 

Answer. Yes ; crystallizes on the strings, and a portion of it remains 
in solution after they are drawn off. 

The Chairman. That is it? 

Answer. Yes. 

Q. Then that which we call rock candy is taken from that? — A. Yes. 

Senator Harris. It is really the part of the sugar which does not 
crystallize? 

Answer. The part which we don't allow to crystallize. 

The Chairman. Have you any knowledge or information as to the 
adulteration of sugar at all? 

Answer. No; I have not, 

Q. You don't know anything about it. Take this powdered sugar. 
It is frequently reported here in the press that what is known as pul- 
verized sugar is very heavil}'^ adulterated. — A. I have heard it so 
stated, by adding starch or something of that kind. Of course, I 
don't know anything about it. 



96 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. You know simply what you have heard, the same as we have 
heard? — A. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Do you use any of that j)ulverized sugar in your 
business at all? 

Answer. No; we don't. 

The Chairman. As I understand, these samples which you have 
here are samples of sirup such as you have prepared them for the 
market? 

Answer. Yes; exactly. 

Q. And if I were to send an order for a barrel of maple sirup, I 
would get the formula of the one that was agreed upon? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have the three grades there? — A. Yes. 

The Chairman. I think that is all, Mr. Scully. You have given us 
very important information. 

(The samples which were referred to by the witness were left by 
him in the possession of the committee.) 

STATEMENT OF J. J. BERRY. 

J. J. Berry, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examined by Senator Mason: 

Q. State j^our name, residence, and occupation. — A. J. J. Berrj'^; 
I am connected with the Chicago Sirup Refining Compan}^ located 
at 280 South Clinton street; we are in the sirup business, and we also 
manufacture jellies and preserves. 

Q. How many different grades of sirups do you manufacture, Mr. 
Berry? — A. If it is permissible, I would say that we follow about the 
same lines that Mr. Scully enumerated here, doing business with the 
jobbing trade. They handle a number of varieties, some lighter 
colored and others dark, and they are branded according to their own 
names. They have their own brands. 

Q. Then you manufacture for wholesalers and jobbers, using their 
brands? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For instance, their' trade-mark is on the outside, isn't it? — A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. For instance, if I had a brand that belonged to me I could go to 
you and say: "Send me a barrel of Golden Drips." You would know 
by that tliat you were to make it for me and of the grade I used? — A. 
If we had never sold to a liouse before we would require a sample of 
the goods that they wanted matched, and would brand them accord- 
ing to their wishes. Every job house has fi-om three to four and some 
five, and others even more than that, brands of sirups, as Mr. Scully 
stated here. Take, for instance, the light and the medium and the 
darker, and we would brand them difi'erently, yet the cost and the 
ingredients are practically the same. More cane sugar in the darker 
than in the lighter ones. 

Q. How many grades of maple sirup do you make? — A. Why, we 
list three grades. That seems to be about the requisite number of 
brands that will fill the demand, one pure, and one 60 per cent maple, 
and the other is — well, our standard grade would be 40 per cent and 
60 per cent glucose. 

Q. But of course you frequently make it more glucose and less 
sirup? — A. In this way: That you will find some people who want a 
maple sirup at a price. 

Q. Yes. — A. In order to compete; but when I speak of our own 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 97 

brands that is as low as we make a brand or grade, 40 per cent maple; 
but 3^ou will find some people who will want 25 per cent maple, so that 
they can get it at a price. 

Q. I see. Then that is done npon the orders of your customers? — ■ 
A. Of the buyers; yes, sir. 

Q. How do you mark them? — A. Well, they are branded "pure" 
for the brand that is jDure, and where the}^ go into a j)ure-food State, 
such as Michigan, AYisconsin, and Ohio, we must put the formula on, 
giving the formula of contents. 

Q. Take j^our second and third grades of maple sirup going to a 
State where they have no i3ure-food law. Plow is it branded then? — 
A. It is branded 60 per cent maple and 40 per cent glucose. 

Q. That is where they have no pure-food law? — A. No ; I beg your 
pardon. I didn't understand that question. We simply sell it as 
maple sirup there. For instance, in this State a sirup is branded 
"Maple syrup," and the buyer knows full well what he is getting on 
account of tlie price that he pays for the goods. 

Q. That is, the merchant? — A. Yes. 

Q. But the consumer? — A. Well, the consumer is misled, in my 
opinion. 

Q. What would you say as to the necessity for a national pure-food 
law?— -A. Why, I think it would be a grand, good thing if we had one, 
for the simple reason that a good many people now will buy this sec- 
ond grade of maple sirup because they can hoodwink their customers 
and sell it for a pure maple sirup, and yet the manufacturer has noth- 
ing whatever to do with that, because, in buying these goods at a 
stipulated price that he wishes to pay for it, it requires glucose to 
bring it down to the cost. In other words, maple sirup is made some- 
times to fit the cost of the goods. 

Q. In your opinion, those States that have pure-food laws, that com- 
pel goods to be marked for what they are, have a decided advantage 
over the citizens of those States — have a decided advantage over the 
citizens of States that don't have such a law? — A. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Permit me, Mr. Berry. Do you find that in States 
which have a pure-food law there is an increased demand for the pure 
sirup and a diminished demand for the mixtures? What is the prac- 
tical effect upon the sales in those States? 

Answer. The pure goods increase — the demand for the pure goods 
is increasing. 

Q. It shows that the people would prefer to buy, even at the 
increased price, pure foods if they knew it? — A, Yes. I would add 
to that, however, that in mj^ experience the bulk of maple sirup that 
is sold is a pure maple sirup. 

Q. You think there is a greater proportion of pure sirup sold than 
of the mixed sirup? — A. Oh, yes; because people, as a rule, who eat 
maple sirup pretend to be judges of the quality of maple sirup, and 
you might sell them one can of the inferior quality, but they would 
soon come around and look for another one, and if they found one 
that was pure they would stick to it. There are a good many people, 
probably, who are not judges of maple sirup, who never bought any- 
thing but the adulterated goods. 

Q. They have never used the high standard of comparison? — 
A. That's it. 

The Chairman, l^ou think that a national pure-food law which 
would compel manufacturers of sirups to state on the package what 
it is would be of benefit to the consumer and of general benefit to the 
F p 7 



98 ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

manufacturers as well? — A. Yes, sir; I do. It would be of benefit to 
the manufacturers in this way. For instance, I will cite a case over 
here in Michigan, where the pure-food commissioner, when the law 
first went into effect, ruled that corn sirup could be branded as here- 
tofore — for instance, "Fancj' Table Drips." Well, in a little while he 
ruled that it must be branded "Number 0" sirup, and later on ruled 
that it would have to be branded " Glucose Mixture," with the manu- 
factui-er's name on it. And it has been so in every State where they 
have adopted the pure-food laws. Consequently, the siru}) people 
are compelled to keep a lot of labels on hand and change them from 
time to time, which has been, you might call it, a useless expense; 
and if we had a national food law we would simplj^ put our formula 
on and it would go into every State in the Union, the same as pure 
goods could be sold. 

Q. You also manufacture jellies and preserves, Mr. Berrj-? — A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. How manj^ varieties of jellies do you manufacture? — A. Well, 
we manufacture two. Senator. One is the pure ; the other the so-called 
" Commercial Jell}"." I don't know what you call it. It is jellj". 

Q. Is it marked "jelly?" — A. It is mark<?d "jellj^;" yes, sir. 

Q. Then, that you make that is pure you make from the fruit 
juices? — A. We make that from the fruit juices and sugar — the same 
as people at home would make their jellies for their own consumption. 

Q. F'or instance, the fruit juices; if you were making a pure apple 
jelly you would make it of cider, would j^ou? How would you make 
it?— A. No. 

Q. Take a pure apple jellj^? — A. The apples would be boiled, and 
the liquor that comes from it would be condensed to the proper con- 
sistency and equal parts of sugar mixed with it. That would give 
you a pure apple jelly — that is, absolutelj' as pure as you can make 
it. But I consider it better than to make it of apple cider, because 
it is more transpai'ent, and it has a more delicate flavor. So with 
currant juice. 

Senator Harris. Mr. Berry, do j'ou make an apple jelly at all? Is 
there any apple jelly made m your establishment in the way that you 
have indicated? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. You do make some of that kind? — A. Yes, sir; but the demand 
is very limited. 

Q. The great bulk of the so-called apple jelly is made in other 
ways? — A. The jelly as sold is consumed by the masses, and they w'ant 
jelly at a price. Thej^ don't care whether it is jelly or not. 

Q. They have got to have it so that they can buy it? — A. Yes; that 
is it. 

The Chairman. Then this adulterated or commercial jelly is a good 
deal cheaper? 

Answer. Yes, sir, 

Q. Do you retail that at all? — A. Whj^ no, sir; we confine ourselves 
entirely to the jobbing trade. 

Q. How do you mark that jelly which you call adulterated or com- 
mercial jelly? — A. In the State of Illinois, for instance, and other 
States where there are no pure-food laws, we simply put a label on 
there, "Currant Jelly," "Raspberry Jelly," etc. 

Senator Harris. I suppose that commercial jelly is the base of a 
great variety of jellies, isn't it? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 



ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 99 

Q. And they are flavored and colored? — A. Thej^ are simi^ly flavored. 

Q. You have the common base, and then 3'ou make almost any 
variety? — A. Yes, sir; almost any variet}-. 

Q. What is the exact character of this commercial jelly, this basic 
jelly? — A. It is made from what we call cores and skins. Where they 
do the evaporating- of tlie apple, parings of the apples and the cores are 
evaporated in the same way that they evaporate apples. That part of 
the aijple conaiins the jellying properties of the apple, and being evapo- 
rated it will last from one year to the next. Then it is mixed with 
glucose and a small proportion of sugar. I consider the jelly whole- 
some. It is 50 iDer cent glucose, 10 per cent sugar, and 40 per cent 
apple juice. 

Q. But it is weakened bj^ the glucose and lacks flavor and color? — ■ 
A. Yes, sir; the glucose is put in to give it body, being heavy. 

The Chairman. Do you use any gelatin in producing the gelatin 
part? 

Answer. No, sir, 

Q. You have competitors in your business, have you? — A. Yes, sir; 
I think all the sirup houses are manufacturing the jellies nowadays. 

Q. Do you use in your factory any acids in making this jelly, out- 
side of fruit acids? — A. In the jelly? 

Q. Yes. — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What acids are used? — A. Well, it is a combination that we buy 
from a concern which prepares it. I don't know the combination, but 
it is perfectly harmless. I say this from the rulings that have been 
made over in the pure-food States where samples have been submitted 
with this acid in the jelly. I am not a chemist, so I am unable to — — 

Q. You do not know the technical term of the acid that is used? — A. 
Why, no. Thej" give this a name. The concern got up this combina- 
tion of acids and submitted it to the different houses to put into jellies 
to submit it to the i3ure food commissioners in Michigan, Ohio, and 
these other States, and they have accepted that as filling the bill. 

Senator Harris. What is the object of the acid? 

Answer. The object is to make the jell}" more firm. It takes but a 
very small trifle in each pail. 

Q. Has it any antiseptic feature at all, or is it intended for that? — 
A. No, sir; I don't think that is required in this ordinary jelly. I 
Iiave seen some that has been out for a year. 

Q. The old-fashion domestic jellies do ferment sometimes, I believe, 
don't the}'? — A. Yes, sir; I think they do 

Q. When they are not sufficiently cooked, I suppose?— A. I think 
the trouble lies in the making of it, when it ferments. 

The Chairman. What acid do you use to give the tart taste of the 
fruit to it? 

Answer. It is imparted from the apple juice, and being made with 
only 10 per cent sugar, it does not overcome this tartness that is 
Imparted by the apple juice. The glucose, while there is a certain 
sweetness in it, it is not powerful enough to penetrate. 

Senator Harris. It would seem to me that plain, simple, apple jelly 
has very little tartness, and that in order to make currant jellj^ you 
would have to do something to give it a little more pronounced tart- 
ness. 

Answer. No, sir; we do not use anything to give it a more pro- 
nounced sharpness, as you call it — simply a little flavoring, and the 
people go largely b}' the label on the pail, in my opinion. 

Q. If they look at the label while they are eating it, they would 



100 ADULTEKATIOIT OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

think it was the kind of jelly designated by the label? — A. They can 
eat currant jelly if it says currant jelly on the label; yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Great is the power of the imagination. 

The Chairman. Then, so far as you understand, this acid that is 
used — is that used to give that sharp, sour, or tart taste to it, or is it 
used to give it firmness? 

Answer. To jell it, as we call it. Ordinarily jelly will not jell for 
some time — that is, the so-called homemade jelly. They usually allow 
it to sit over night before they consider it well jellied, while our jelly 
will be jellied in a few hours as well as it ever will. Here is a table- 
spoonful put into a 30-pound pail. 

Senator Harris. That is by the addition of this acid? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What size of pails are used? 

Answer. It is put up in 15 and 30 pound pails. 

Q. You can make a pail of jelly, of what is known as commercial 
jelly, for instance, if you are going to market currant jelly, of 10 per 
cent of sugar, 50 per cent of glucose, and where do you get the other 
40 per cent when you do not use currants? — A. The apple juice. 

Q. You use apple juice to make currant jelly? — A. Yes, sir; the 
apple juice 

Q. Is that the base of the whole thing? — A. The apple juice and the 
glucose is the foundation of the whole business. 

Q. You were asked just now if the flavor is practically the same? — 
A. Not in currants. Senator. The currant jelly is flavored and colored. 

Q. So that it tastes a little different and looks different? — A. It 
looks different. There is a little coloring matter put into this to make 
it a bright red. 

Q. What coloring matter do you use? — A. Well, we are now using 
an imported coloring matter that is guaranteed to us to be perfectly 
harmless — a vegetable color. In the olden days they used aniline, 
which of course is poisonous. 

Q. This that you get, though, is guaranteed to be a vegetable color- 
ing matter? — A. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. You do not know what the composition of it is? 

Answer. No, sir; I do not. We like the acid as used now in the 
State of Ohio, where I can sell colored jelly with the formula on. In 
the State of Michigan we sell it uncolored and it is branded there 
"Imitation Fruit Jelly," and is without any coloring matter in it at 
all. The food commissioner in Ohio did not object to this vegetable 
colored jelly, but passed on it as being satisfactory. 

Q. You stated that there were some States that had made a chem- 
ical anah^sis, as I understand you, and had accepted this acid as not 
deleterious? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they specify what that acid was? Did they give it a name? — 
A. No, sir; not that I know of. Several years ago the concerns in 
Chicago m the jelly business sent a man over to Lansing, Mich., to go 
over this question of jellies, and the result in the end really was that 
this acid was acceptable, but the jelty must be uncolored. 

Q. Really in your manufacture you use, then, two articles that you 
simply use on faith yourself, this acid and the coloring matter. You 
do not exactly know what they are, but j^ou believe, or you are guar- 
anteed, that they are harmless? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Why did the Michigan people object to the coloring matter? — 
A. Well, I am unable to say; but, as I said a while ago, they made a 
ruling and then they changed it in a little while, and finally they have 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 101 

got to the point now where jelly must be iineolored, and that is there 
final and last ruling. These food commissioners do not usually give 
you a reason. We had a lot of colored jelly over in the State of Mich- 
igan, I think, a year ago; that had been sold before they ruled on 
coloring matter having to be left out of the jelly, and we were notified 
that we must take this jell}^ from the jobbers. The jobbers notified 
us that we would have to exchange it for uncolored jelly. We wrote 
to the food commissioner, explaining that those goods had been sold 
before this new ruling, and that it would incur considerable expense 
to pick it up from one end of the State to the other; but his answer 
was, " I send you a copy of the law; act accordingly." And we sim- 
ply had to pick up our jelly and exchange it for uncolored goods. I 
say that to show you that there is no way of getting any explanation 
from the food commissioners. 

Q. They lay down the law without anj^ explanation. You think 
that these aniline preparations are not used now for coloring jellies? — 
A. Well, I don't know positively as to that, but I have reason to 
believe that in a large measure they are not used any more. Some 
concerns may use them. 

Q. But you do not? — A. No, sir; we have not for the last five years. 

The Chairman. This article that you say is guaranteed to you to 
be a vegetable coloring matter, is it practically as cheap as aniline? 

Answer. No, sir. 

Q. It is not as cheap? — A, No, sir. 

Q. Is there such a difference in the cost of the coloring that it would 
be a temptation for a manufacturer to use aniline instead of this? — 
A. Well, I don't think there would be. Senator; not sufficient to a man 
who had any regard for the welfare of the public at large. 

Q. You are not a chemist, Mr. Berry? — A. No, sir. 

Q. And you have no personal knowledge as to what this vegetable 
coloring matter is? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Except that it has been passed ujjon l)y some food commissioners 
and held not to be deleterious? — A. That is it. 

Q. And you have continued the use of it since then? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Would your opinion apply the same to jellies as it does to sirups — • 
that there ought to be a national jDure-food law which would make 
uniform rules for branding the goods? — A. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. In the manufacture of preservatives, Mr. Berry, 
Is there any difference in the manufacture of preservatives other than 
as indicated in the manufacture of jellies — what you used in pre- 
servatives is glucose and some of these coloring matters? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. With perhaps a little flavoring or something of that sort? — A. 
No, sir; in preservatives we put in the fruit without the flavoring. 

Q. The fruit is sufficiently flavored? — A. Yes, sir; the fruit is suffi- 
cient without the flavor. 

Q. Where do you get your fruit, then? — A. We put up our fruits 
during the different seasons. 

Q. The local market supplies you? — A. We get fresh fruit from the 
market and put it uj) in hermeticall}^ sealed cans for use during the 
winter season. 

Q. You get as good fruit as you can, I suppose, exercising all the 
care possible? — A. Yes, sir. The fruit is perfectl}^ sound fruit. 

Q. Perfectly sound fruit? — A. The time to buy that fruit, of course. 
Is when there is a flood in the market, and you can go down on the 



102 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

street and buy the best fruits at a nominal price, of course, when the 
market is flooded. 

Q. You will watch your opportunities in that wa}^? — A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. How many drops does it* take to color, say, a gallon 
of the jelly? 

Answer. Well, we use an ounce of this coloring matter to 50 gallons, 
and it is dissolved in water. A solution is made of the dry powdered 
form. To a pound of this coloring matter there is a gallon of water 
added, and we use an ounce of this preparation for -50 gallons. 

Q. You would have no objection to giving the committee a small 
sample of that coloring matter, would you? — A. No, sir; I would be 
very glad to bring it over here to you. 

The Chairman. Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF C. S. N. HALLBERG— Recalled. 

C. S. N. Hallberg, having been previously sworn, was recalled 
and further testified as follows: 

Examination by the Chairman : 

The Chairman. You are a chemist by profession? 

Answer. Yes; I am not a chemist, except a pharmaceutical chemist. 
I do not know as I have much to add to what I said yesterday except, 
possibly, that I simply incidentally referred to the statement which 
was made by the preceding witness, Mr. Murray, who stated that if 
the alum in the baking powder were properl}^ neutralized there would 
be left no alum in the finished bread. I stated in my testimony that 
that was not true. Of course I did not qualify the statement that 
the alum was in the form of aluminum hydrate. I wanted to escape, 
as much as possible, these chemical and technical terms. I also 
incidentally referred to the fact that Dr. Wiley had stated that he 
regarded alum as an irritant poison, not, however, at all to be likened 
to such substances as are commonly known as poisons, such as strych- 
nine. Mr. Rew, who followed me, stated that he desired to correct 
this statement of mine, and gave a very elaborate exposition of the 
chemical reactions involved in the various kinds of baking powders, 
and showed conclusively that the alum baking powders left a residue of 
aluminum hydrate. That is excctly what I had in mind, and I hope 
that Mr. Rew will give me sufficient credit, at least, as a sort of chem- 
ist, to know that that is what I had reference to. I do not believe that it 
is within my province to discuss whether or not this aluminum hydrate 
remains as such in the stomach when the bread is eaten. I think that 
there will be other witnesses who will have much stronger evidence 
with which to support their statements in tiiat respect than I have. 

I also stated that this question was not as yet settled — that is, the 
question as to the character of aluminum as an ingredient in baking 
powder. I know, and everyone who has studied this question knows, 
that authorities differ; but it is a remarkable condition, perhaps, that 
experts can be found to assume any view that the employer desires. 
Recently the greatest expert, perhaps, not in an official position — that 
is, with' the Government — I think it is Professor, either Atwater or 
Professor Chittenden, of Yale— has differed very materially with 
other experts with reference to the use of antiseptics and antifermen- 
tives in food, one of them even making the broad assertion that such 
a powerful antiseptic or antifermentive as boric acid was compara- 



ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 103 

tivelj^ harmless. So that this question of the use of certain additions 
to foods and food products is a very intricate and difficult question 
to solve; and, as I suggested yesterday, it can only be done by the 
most careful and elaborately planned research by scientific men, who 
have devoted their lives to tlie study of this subject to fix the various 
limitations as to the use of certain substances which we know by 
themselves are harmful, but under certain conditions may be per- 
missible. 

As comes before your honorable committee in reference to nearly 
everj^ subject, you have no doubt observed that concerning sirups, 
concerning this maple sirup, and this morning concerning jellies, the 
question always comes up if there are substances that are used to give 
a certain artiticial effect to a substance, to simulate the natural quali- 
ties and properties as to taste, color or odor; and to what extent this 
can be used is an exceedingly diificult question, especially when you 
consider that men like this immediately preceding witness, Mr. l^erry 
here, who evidently understands his business, but at the same time 
frankly confesses that he does not know anything about the composi- 
tion of these two exceedingly important substances, two substances 
which are trade comi)ositions, trade products. That means, perhaps, 
that the composition is secret. It means, probably, that either the 
processes by Avhich they are made are patented or the names are copj^- 
righted. It means that those manufacturers can change or modify the 
formula, and therefore the constitution of these substances, whenever 
they take a notion to do it. So he may have the very best of intentions, 
and nevertheless he maj^ be using sulphuric acid in this acid com- 
pound in jelly. I have been credibly informed that it is sulphuric 
acid that is used, although I don't know. I wouldn't say, but I have 
heard it from i:)ersons 

The Chairman. You may remember Professor Wiley's statement 
that some stomachs would be more susceptible, and others, strong and 
healthy, might take this without notice where a weak or delicate 
stomach might immediately become ill from absorbing things of this 
kind. Well, I called you. Professor, because he followed jon in the 
statement, and I wanted to know whether you had changed 3^our mind 
any in regard to it since he testified. 

Answer. No, sir. I think Mr. Rew will agree with me that we are 
both-right on that. I don't think there can be anj^ misunderstanding 
about it. It was purely a technical omission, for reasons which I have 
already given, which led me to state that there was alum remaining, 
it being aluminum hydrate. If I am allowed, I want to say that alum — 
that is, the base aluminum — and its compounds are not volatile. Con- 
sequently, they can not volatilize. When aluminum carbonate is used 
in baking powder — aluminum carbonate is made up of two volatile 
substances, ammonia gas and carbonic acid, and, l)y heat, under 
favorable conditions the}" will both volatilize; but such is not the case 
with aluminum compounds or any of those fixed bases. 

I don't like to detain the committee at all. I can talk as long as 
you please, almost, on this subject; but I don't want to interfere with 
anyone. 

The Chairman. That was the only question I had to suggest. I 
wanted to know whether you changed your views after hearing Mr, 
Rew. Is Mr. Rew present? 

Mr. Rew. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you want to say anything to the committee? 



104 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

STATEMENT OF GEORGE C. REW— Recalled. 

George C. Rew, having been previously sworn, resumed the stand 
and further testified, as follows: 

Examination bj^ the Chairman: 

Q. Your name is George C. Rew? — A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Your address? 

Answer. 38 Michigan avenue. 

The Chairman. And j^our business? 

Answer. I am vice-president of the Calumet Baking Powder Com- 
pany. 

The Chairman. If there is anything that you want to say in regard 
to this matter, the committee will hear you. 

Answer. Strictly speaking, when we use the term ' ' alum " to describe 
a chemical compound we mean a definite substance or a definite class 
of substances. That is, we mean a double sulphate of an alkaline 
metal — aluminum; and when Professor Ilallberg said yesterday in 
food prepared with j^roperly mixed alum baking powder there would 
be some alum left in the food, I questioned the statement, because 
alum is this definite double sulphate, and the substance left in food 
prepared with an alum baking powder is hydrate of alumina and sul- 
phate of soda, neither of which substance is alum. Alum may be 
manufactured out of those materials, but they are not alum, and the 
alumina, or, rather, the aluminum which results from the decomposi- 
tion of the alum in the j)rocess of baking in this form of aluminum 
hj^drate, is not soluble. It is an insoluble compound; whereas, alum- 
inum, the double sulphate, is readily soluble in water and in the 
digestive juices, and, if taken into the stomach as such, would have 
all the physiological action which the soluble alum compounds have, 
while, taken into the stomach as hydrate of alumina, it is insoluble 
in the digestive juices. I am not a physiologist, and I say that only 
on the authorit}^ of physiologists. 

The Chairman. In the processes of digestion is the stomach alkaline 
or is it acid? 

Answer. As I stated before, I am not a physiologist; but the stomach 
contains 1 per cent of hydrochloric acid, I think. 

The Chairman. Is aluminum hydrate a soluble acid? 

Answer. The best authorit}^ so far as my knowledge goes, on that 
question is Francis Sutton, the English analyst; and in the English 
case, known as the Norfolk Baking Powder Case, he was the chemical 
expert who testified, and the burden of his testimony was to the effect 
that this aluminum hydrate was not solu])le in the digestive juices. 

The Chairman. Then it is not soluble in hydrochloric acid? 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is soluble in hydrochloric acid, but not in the 
hydrochloric acid of the stomach, according to Sutton's testimony. 
The solution either is weak or about 1 per cent strength. 

The Chairman. Is the Professor right when he says it is not 
volatile? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That is a correct statement? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That is all — unless you have something to say. 

The Witness. There is something I wanted to say along the same 
line as yesterday. I suggested that tlie best way to get at these labels 
for baking powders — the most fair way — would be to label the baking 
powder in accordance with the materials left in the food ; that is, the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 105 

substances which went into the stomach of the consumer; that it is 
not a matter of any interest to the consumer to say that this baking 
powder contains cream of tartar if the consumer doesn't eat any of 
the cream of tartar. If the substance which went into the stomacli 
was Rochelle salts, that was the substance about wliich the consumer 
was entitled to information. 

The Chairman. Yes; I remember that. 

The Witness. And the same way with the alum baking powders. 
I have brought with me a sample of these Rochelle salts, which I have 
extracted from food prepared with the cream of tartar baking powders 
[producing same]. 

Senator Harhis. On that point could anything definite be said as 
to what would be taken into the stomach? 

Answer. I couldn't state it exactly. 

Senator Harris. Wouldn't that depend on the cooking? 

Answer. Not as far as the baking powder was concerned. 

Senator Harris. Wouldn't it depend upon the quantity used? 

Answer. Suppose we have a cream of tartar baking powder which 
contained 28 per cent of bicarbonate of soda. That, with the quan- 
tity of cream of tartar necessarj' for neutralizing, would leave in the 
food 70 per cent of the weight of the baking powder used of Rochelle 
salts. Why couldn't that baking powder be replaced by this baking 
powder, leaving in the food 70 i^er cent of its weight in Rochelle salts? 

Senator Harris. I asked the question because I have an unpleasant 
recollection of a great variety of soda biscuits that I have eaten in the 
course of my life. You may assume that soda, using the proper quan- 
tity, would have a certain effect if you liad a certain amount of it in 
the stomach. I have seen soda biscuits of all shades and colors, from 
pea-green to a verj^ dark-broAvn taste. 

The Witness. Yes, sir; those soda biscuits are prepared by the cook. 
She uses saleratus baking soda and sour milk. She has no way of 
determining the degree of sourness of the milk. It may be at one 
time very acid, and at another weaklj' acid. She uses a uniform quan- 
tity of soda and an indefinite quantity of sour milk. If she uses more 
soda than her sour milk will take care of, the biscuits are yellow; 
if, on the other hand, she uses too little soda or too much milk, then 
the biscuits are white and bleached. 

Senator Harris. No such possibility would attend the use of your 
baking powder? 

Answer. No, sir; because our baking powder is prepared on chem- 
ical lines. 

Senator Ha.rris. I mean the quantity ought to be precise and accu- 
rate. 

Answer. The residue would be the same whether a^ou used two tea- 
spoonfuls or one to a quart of flour. 

The Chairman. I have here a label signed bj^ the Calumet Baking 
Powder Company, Chicago. Professor Wiley and the committee 
would like to know whether that is one of j^our labels [handing same 
to witness]. 

Answer. Yes, sir; that is part of one of our labels. 

The Chairman. That label, so far as it goes, is complete in itself? 

Answer. That is the reverse side of one of our la.bels. 

The Chairman. There are other things on the can besides that? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. But that is on each can? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

(The chairman then read the label referred to, as follows: "One 



106 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

thousand dollars will be given for anj^ substance injurious to health 
found in Calumet balving powder. No baking powder on the market 
will produce as light, sweet, healthful food, entirely free from alum, 
Rochelle salts, lime, or ammonia, as Calumet baking powder. This 
baking powder contains alum manufactured with the greatest care 
especially for us from pure criolites. This is not the alum of the drug 
stores, and in the process of baking is completely changed, so as to 
leave in the food no sul:>stance injurious to health. Calumet baking 
powder complies with the pure-food laws in all the States, and its pui'ity 
has never been attacked by any board of health. Grocers are author- 
ized to guarantee it in every respect." Then follow the directions in 
English and German. Signed "Calumet Baking Powder Company, 
Chicago.") 

Senator Harris. What is the object of introducing that, Mr. 
Chairman? 

The Chairman. Professor Wiley or Professor Mitchell asked me 
about — I don't know that it is necessary to put it in the record. 
They asked me to ask him if it was one of his labels. That was all. 

Senator Harris. I have no particular objection to it. The label 
states that no alum is used. 

The Chairman. No; it says it is not drug-store alum. They say 
it is alum, but it is not drug-store alum, and that in the process of 
baking it is completely changed. 

Senator Harris. But when it is used it is not changed. 

The Chairman. The witness has answ^ered that, I believe. 

The Witness. I have been over that ground. 

Senator Harris. Yes; I was simply referring to what you had 
already said. 

The Witness. That is simply a brief statement or summary of 
some of the statements I have made. 

The Chairman. Is this label intended to inform the consumer that 
it does contain alum? 

Answer. It is to assure the consumer that the substances left in 
food prepared with our baking powder are not injurious; rather to 
show wdiat is not there more than anything else. 

The Chairman. Is it intended to show that the baking powder in 
itself contains alum? 

Answer. That statement appears there; yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. The direct purpose is to show that under your 
theory the alum used is not injurious. 

Answer. Yes, sir; that that alum is entirely destroyed in the process 
of baking, as alum 

The Chairman. And that by the process employed bj^ your com- 
pany the alum, which is admittedly used b}^ your company, is not 
injurious to health, owing to its chemical reaction? 

Answer. And that none of it is left in food prepared with our 
baking powder. 

Senator Harris. That is j^our side of the case. 

STATEMENT OF PROF. A. S. MITCHELL. 

Prof. A. S. Mitchell, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

Examination by the Chairman: 
Q. What is your name? — A. A. S. Mitchell, of Wisconsin. 
The Chairman. What is your address? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 107 

Answer. My home is in Milwaukee, but my business address is 
Madison. 

The Chairman. What is your i^rofession? 

Answer. I am an analytical chemist, chemist to the Dairy and Food 
Commission of Wisconsin. 

The Chairman. Have you had any special course of study in this 
matter? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I j^raduated from the chemical department of 
the University of Michigan in 1887. 

The Chairman. How long have you been engaged in this work? 

Answer. I luive been engaged in analj^tical work since 1887, but I 
have been with the Food Commission over four years. 

The Chairman. Do you hold now an official position in Wisconsin? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I am a chemist of the Dairy Commission and of 
the State board of health. 

The Chairman. Before I take up the general subject which is before 
us — Mr. Rew having just been on the stand — I will ask you if you 
ever had occasion to analyze or know anything about baking powders? 

Answer. I have analyzed several. 

The Chairman. NYliat do you say as to the use of alum in baking 
powder? 

Answer. It is a questionable subject. There are two sides to it; 
but I think at least the public ought to be infoi-med, plainly informed, 
when they ai-e buying an alum baking powder. Then if they care to 
use a cheaper baking powder, containing alum, they would be at lib- 
erty to obtain them. But the trouble with them as now sold is that 
the alum baking powders are sold under either deceptive labels or 
not labeled at all in reference to the composition of them, and while 
they are sold by the wholesaler at verj^ low jjrices, they frequently 
reach the consumer at prices as high as the cream of tartar baking 
powders, and very frequently then there are prizes given with them, 
and supposed to be given for nothing. The commission ordered the 
arrest of one party in Milwaukee who sold two samples of baking 
powders to the inspectors, one for 20 cents a pound and labeled 20- 
cent baking powder, with a prize, and the other labeled best baking 
powder, with a different label, but identically the same powder inside 
the can, the cans the same weight; the one marked "Best" sold for 
50 cents, and a china dish was given with it. 

The Chairman. In that way the consumer 

Answer. Is deceived and defrauded, at least, and it is a question 
whether he is not injured. I have a sample of the deceptive labeling 
which was used, and the alterations which have been made by our 
laws. 

(The witness here produced the sample referred to.) 

The Witness (continuing) : There [indicating] is a sample which 
was sold with this label, just as it is seen, before the law, without 
this black printing on the side. Shall I read the label? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Answer. The top of it saj^s: "Delicatessen," and there is the 
strength given. Then, without punctuation, "Warranted cream of 
tartar baking powder companj^ New York, U. S. A.," and the careless 
reader would read, " Warranted cfeam- of -tartar baking powder," and 
the word "company " being on the lower line. On the side it says, in 
larger letters, "Strictly pure cream of tartar," and in smaller letters 
on each side of it it says, " How to make." Then it reads, "Strictly 
pure cream of tartar;" in small letters, "baking powder;" and then 



108 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

it gives tlie formula which would make a cream-of-tartar baking 
powder. There is no cream of tartar in this baking powder, and the 
name of the company marked on it is " Cream of Tartar Baking 
Powder Company, New York, U. S. A." It is made in another State 
than New York — in Ohio, I think. The Wisconsin law requires that 
this powder be branded as containing alum. So, to comply with that 
law, they have left their deceptive label on the side and toji, but they 
stamped along the side, in black letters, "This baking powder con- 
tains alum." There is no cream of tartar in it, and it is an alum 
baking powder. That is one of the most flagrant cases. They are 
not usually as bad as that. 

Senator Harris. The black printing was put on specially for use in 
your State? 

Answer. Yes, sir; that is just to make it comply with the law in our 
State; otherwise the label would remain the same. 

Senator Harris. And elsewhere it probably goes without it? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Did you analyze this? 

Answer. I did. 

The Chairman. It does not contain any cream of tartar? 

Answer. It does not. 

The Chairman. And it does contain alum? 

Answer. It does. 

The Chairman. It was never marked "alum baking powder" until 
your State passed the law? 

Answer. Never, to my knowledge. 

The Chairman. Have you anything further to say uj)on this par- 
ticular subject? I wanted to start with you with some little system. 

The Witness. The question of the wholesomeness of baking pow- 
ders, while it is an important question, as, in that case, there is a 
fraud committed in selling the cheaper substances for the more expen- 
sive ones; and if the question of wholesomeness was entirely out of it, 
the desirability of labeling it alum is undoubted. There are good 
men who adhere to that belief. The amount of chemical impurities 
there which would remain in the food would be small, but their ten- 
dency is deleterious. There is no question about that. In the first 
place, the claim is frequently made, and has been made before this 
committee, that when these baking powders are used in the food the 
reaction is complete and no alum remains in the food. I liave failed 
to find any baking powder which, in the ordinary process of cooking, 
would perfectly react and not leave some soluble alum, even when 
there is no flour or food put with the baking powder, but simply warm 
water. The hydrate of alumina — of course, there is no question but 
that this hydi'ate is soluble in diluted acids if the stomach is in its 
normal condition — in my opinion, the hydrate would be more or less 
soluble as a chloride, and it would be at least liable to absorption, 
and the tendency would be to act as an astringent, and as possibly a 
mild irritant, and the tendency is as a drug or chemical and not as a 
food. 

The Chairman. If you had your choice as to whether you would 
take an alum baking powder or a cream-of-tartar baking powder for 
your own use, which would you choose? 

Answer. I would use either a cream-of-tartar or phosphate baking 
powder without the alum. I wouldn't want alum in my food know- 
ingly. May I add a word? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

The Witness. There is a sale for the alum baking powders, espe- 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 109 

cially where stores are supplying boats and supplying large concerns, 
where they have got to make a showing of low cost of the products 
which they buy, and the more economical the steward can be in buy- 
ing, the better steward he is in the eyes of his employers; and so there 
is a large sale for the cheaper forms of baking powder where they are 
used in public places. 

The Chairman. Hotels and boarding houses? 

Answer. Hotels and boats and boarding houses, trains, etc. 

The Chairman. The man who buys at retail at a table has no 
information at all? It is impossible, when you sit down to eat a meal, 
for you to tell what you are getting? 

Answer, He has no way of informing himself, and he may have a 
prejudice against using those astringents. If he does, he should have 
the right to be protected. 

The Chairman. Can you think of any way, since you have given 
this subject of pure food j^our attention — can you think of anj^ way, 
as a matter of law, by which the purchasers and consumers at these 
great hotels and restaurants can be protected, so that when they think 
they are buying, for instance, butter, they get butter, and when they 
think they are buj'ing cheese, they may get cheese, and when they 
think they are buying a bread made of flour, they may get it instead 
of getting flour mixed with cheap adulterants, and the same with 
honey? 

Answer. I can not as long as they are permitted to sell them, and as 
long as they are permitted to be sold on the market the stewards will 
get them. It will be almost impossible to inform their guests through 
bills of fare or otherwise, and legally. It is done in the case of but- 
terine in many places, either by means of the bill of fare or by signs. 

The Chairman. In what State is there any such law as that? 

Answer. In the State of Wisconsin notice to guests is required, but 
it is not stated how that notice shall be given. Sometimes it is given 
on the bill of fare and sometimes by signs, and usually the effort is 
to get the sign in a rather out-of-the-way place. 

The Chairman. That is the law there now? 

Answer. That is the law there now. 

The Chairman. So that if I was prejudiced against oleomargarine 
and I went into a hotel I could see by the sign whether they used it on 
the table or in their cooking? 

Answer. I think you could. I think there are only a few places in 
the lumber region, in the northern part of the State, where that law 
is not in force. It is in force in all the larger cities in the southern 
part of the State, strictly enforced. * 

The Chairman. You have made a special study of food products 
and of dairy products, have you not? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have made a study of the chemistry of them. 

The Chairman. What is the title of the place you now hold in the 
State of Wisconsin? 

Answer. I am the chemist of the dairy commission, and I do the 
chemical work of the State board of health through my official 
position. 

The Chairman. Then j^ou take up other foods besides dairy food 
products? 

Answer. Yes, sir; foods in general, preservatives used in foods, and 
spices. 

The Chairman, You are familiar with the working of the oleo- 
margarine law? 

Answer, Yes, sir; fairly. 



110 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions as to any improvements 
that could be made to protect the consumer and the honest manufac- 
turer of butter? 

Answer. We feel very Avell satisfied with tlie law which prohibits 
the coloring' of oleomargarine in imitation of butter, and in the same 
way we would like to extend that, in a measure, to all products which 
are artificially^ colored in imitation of other substances, the artificial 
coloring in itself not being objectionable unless it is used to conceal 
the actual character of the goods made in imitation of other sub- 
stances. 

The Chairman. Would you recommend to the National Legislature 
a law that would prohibit the coloring of oleomargarine? 

Answer. 1 think it would be desirable. 

Senator Harris. And would yon recommend a law which would 
prohibit the coloring of butter? 

Answer. Well, that goes into the other question as to whether col- 
oring in all cases of food products should not be prohibited. The 
objection is not so great there, because butter is not colored in imita- 
tion of anything else. 

Senator Harris. The moral element does not enter into it, you 
mean? 

Answer. Yes; coloring which pleases the eye, in a measure. Such 
coloring as is used in confectionery, in brightening up certain dull- 
colored foods, is not as objectionable, providing you get coloring that 
is practically harmless. 

Senator Harris. And the objection to the coloring in oleomargarine 
is that it assists in the deception? 

Answer. It assists in its use as butter, in deceiving the customer; the 
use finally. 

Senator Harris. And particularly the customers in these great 
hotels and restaurants and boats that j^ou have described? 

Answer. Yes. If it is white, like lard, they suspect it, and then 
they notice its greasy consistency, its lack of grain, and its tallowy 
taste. It aids the officers in searching it out readily, too. 

Senator Harris. You have no other suggestions as to the amend- 
ment of the oleomargine law except as to the color? 

Answer. No, sir. 

Senator Harris. How about filled cheese? 

Answer. Filled cheese in our State is well regulated by the taking 
effect of the national law, which did the work. Our State has a pro- 
hibitory law, affecting only the State. There are no factories in our 
State now. There were, when thi* law went into effect, 200 factories 
running in our State alone. 

Senator Harris. Making filled cheese? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. This filled cheese is not necessarily deleterious to 
health, is it? 

Answer. Not necessarily; but it is a much inferior product to oleo- 
margarine from a food standpoint, and does not ripen normally, and 
it soon breaks down and sjwils. It is not a permanent or desirable 
imitation of cheese. 

Senator Harris. Have you any suggestion to make to this commit- 
tee as to the amendment of the law^ in regard to filled cheese — the 
national law? 

Answer. No, sir; in mj^ opinion, so far as I know, it is satisfactory. 

Senator Harris. Take the bill known as the "pure-flour bill," which 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. Ill 

has been lately passed, which compels the stamping of flour that is 
sold as wheat flour when it contains anything besides wheat. Have 
yon any suggestion as to any amendment to thatV 

Answer. I have not. I think that the national laws do more than 
local legislation, and that law seems to be doing its work. I have not 
much personal knowledge of the adulteration of flour except buck- 
wheat brands and fancy brands. 

Senator Harris. Before we take up the general discussion of pure 
food with you, what is your opinion as to the propriety of having a 
national law, a uniform law, which would compel the marking of sub- 
stitutes, of what they are? 

Answer. I think it is very desirable. It would form a basis for 
legislation in the various States, so that there will be a tendencj^ to 
uniformity. Everything will be as good as the national law requires, 
iind in some States thej^ always have the j)rivilege of going a little 
further, provided they can enforce it locally. 

Senator Harris. If you will start in now and state to the committee 
on any subject — what we want is to get all the information we can. 
Our resolution instructs us to investigate what adulterants are dele- 
terious to health and what adulterants of foods are simply frauds and 
not necessarily deleterious to health. You can divide it as j'ou like. 

Answer. From a sanitary standpoint, of course the deleterious ones 
come first. It seems to me that the rapidly growing use of preserva- 
tives and antiseptics is about as important a thing in that line as I 
have met with. 

Senator Harris. What is an antiseptic? 

Answer. An antiseptic is a substance which will stop the develop- 
ment of a germ or bacterial life, fermentation in a general way — stop 
its development and growth. 

Senator Harris. Can you state to the committee how it is used — in 
what foods it is used? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have a few here, some of them sold in this city, 
which we have met with. I take up dairy products first, or first, 
rather, I will make a general outline, perhaps. Antiseptics or anti- 
ferments are used in dairy products — in milk to some extent, to some 
extent in butter and in cream, both simple antiseptics and antiseptics 
also which are rich in consistency, apparently rich in cream, and in 
that connection also with coloring matter, to give an appearance of 
yellowness and richness. They are used to some extent in ordinary 
foods, to a considerable extent in candy, and in that connection some 
substances are used which are deleterious as well; and they are used 
a great deal in chopped meats, such as Hamburger steaks and such as 
sausage. They are used in bulk oysters and in fish, in the brine of 
some cured meats, such as hams, and possible' corned beef. They are 
recommended by sellers for use in almost every conceivable food that 
will spoil, and they are recommended almost universally as being 
harmless, and, as a greater temptation, for the almost utter impossi- 
bility of detection by chemists. That is generally quoted by the 
dealers, as it is on this bottle [referring to a bottle on the table]. 

Senator Harris. You say the rule is that these antiseptics are dele- 
terious to health? 

Answer. In my opinion, any antiseptic which is an active antiseptic 
is necessarily deleterious to health. 

Senator Harris. Because it stops the processes of the stomach? 

Answer. It does retard them to some degree, undoubtedly. It stops 
the working of the normal enzymes, or ferments, and it stops the 



112 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

digestive processes which take place in the organs, and it stops, in a 
measure, the changes wliicli take place normally in the food products, 
possibly, in some cases. This material here [referring to a sample] 
is sold as freezine, and it is said to take the place of ice. It goes on 
with an apparently scientific exposition of what sours milk, and it 
says that its use does not affect the flavor or fresh appearance of 
milk, cream, or buttermilk in any way. I do not think I need to quote 
from this label. It simpl}^ states that it does the work of ice, and 
that is the reason that they call it freezine ; and it is a solution of 
formic aldehyde. 

Senator Harris. Did you analyze that yourself — the contents of 
that bottle? 

Answer. I did, a portion of it, and found it to be formic aldehyde. 

Senator Harris. In your opinion, that article is highly objection- 
able from a sanitary point of view? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. That is, it is absolutely deleterious to public 
health? 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is when used in strong solutions; not in the 
very weak strength in which it would be held in milk, of course, but 
it is used in strong solutions to harden tissue for microscopic work, 
as it will kill and harden microscopic animalculse very readily. If a 
drop of it is put into water, or any material containing those small, 
living organisms, they immediately give a few convulsive kicks and 
die. And the attempt was made by physicians, as it is such a strong 
preservative, to put it in morphine solutions — morphine quickly dete- 
riorates after it is dissolved — to preserve those solutions and use 
them, for example, for eardrops, dropping in the ear in case of ear- 
ache, and so on. But it was found that it killed the skin and the 
skin dried up and peeled off, and it could not be used, even in dilute 
solutions, in the ear, as a preservative, and the physicians who had 
lauded it immediately retracted their laudations, and there is hardly 
any use for it now. In strong solutions it will kill the skin and 
cause it to peel off —delicate skin. There are several brands on the 
market here. 

The Chairman. Let me ask Professor Wiley 

Question (addressed to Professor Wiley). Is this what you referred 
to. Dr. Wiley, as "Milk Sweet?" 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes ; that was sold as milk sweet throughout 
different parts of the countrj^, also. 

The Witness. We met with three of those here. One is a milk 
sweet; another is freezine, put out by the firm of John B. Heller & 
Co. This is called "Special M Preservative." 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I see "milk sweet" marked on the bottle 
there. "Milk cream sweet," there; it is marked there. 

The Witness. Oh, yes; "milk and cream sweet." Yes, Before 
that it says, "The only scientific invention for keeping milk and 
cream sweet." But there is a preparation known as milk sweet under 
that label, I believe, put out; I think it is in Elgin. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Yes; it has been sent to me for analysis 
several times from Illinois. 

The Witness. I think Elgin is the headquarters. And here is 
another one put up in Chicago by the Preservaline Manufacturing 
Compan3^ This is sold by the Creamery Package Manufacturing 
Company, and is known as "Special M Preservaline." It is the same 
thing, formic aldehyde. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 113 

Senator Harris. I see that first preparation is highly commended 
for use in cream puffs and in ice cream, and therefore probably util- 
ized by the confectioners and people of that class, as well as in milk. 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is. I have not actual knowledge. I never 
analyzed any cream puffs that had it in, but we find it in milk, used 
in milk, and the parties have been prosecuted for using it. 

Senator ID rris. I notice it requires an increased quantity, etc., in 
cream puffs and in ice cream, so that its use would be probably more 
dangerous in those articles than in milk? 

Answer. The cream puffs are of course beaten up. The cream is 
beaten up fluffy and stirred with the air, you might say, and the air 
included, so that they readily sour and break down. 

Senator Harris. That is to prevent fermentation. 

The Chairman. What is the second sample that you show there; 
preservative? 

Answer. It is the same material under a different label. The same 
material, put out by a different firm, but under a different label. 

The Chairman. What is it called? 

Answer. Special M Preservaline. "M" is supposed to mean, I 
presume, milk, or what is sold for milk. 

The Chairman. Have you any evidence, or have you been told by 
people in your neighborhood, as to its common use, as to whether it 
is used commonly or not? 

Answer. We have seized packages of it in milk houses, the houses 
of certain dairjnnen in Milwaukee; and we have found it in milk^ in 
one instance, and prosecuted the party successfully, and it has been 
pushed very strongly in our city by circulars and otherwise. 

The Chairman. It has been advertised? 

Answer. By circulars, yes, sir; and by handbills. 

The Chairman. Could you send one to the committee, if you should 
happen to have it? 

Answer. I don't think I have any of them now; but I might be able 
to find one. 

Senator Harris. Have you ever looked into its use, in the direction 
that I indicated a while ago, by confectioners? 

Answer. No, sir; 1 never have. 

The Chairman. Have you any other samples of antiseptics that are 
used in food? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have a few. Some antiseptics are also used for 
other purposes; that is, they are used for improving the apparent 
quality. They do not actually improve the quality, but they cover up 
the poor quality. 

The Chairman. They improve the appearance? 

Answer. There is a meat preservative [indicating same] called 
"New Method Meat Preserver;" "Highly recommended for preserv- 
ing and protecting fresh meat, pork, liver, sausage, pudding, bologna, 
summer sausage, hamburger steaks, and chopped meats." The prices 
are given. He uses 2 ounces with every 100 pounds of meat. That is 
sold in Milwaukee. 

The Chairman. Where is it made? 

Answer. I don't know where the chemicals are made. It is boxed 
and sold in Milwaukee, 

The Chairman. Have you analyzed it? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What does it contain? 

Answer, It is sulphite of sodium. 

F p 8 



114 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Is that, in your opinion, a dangerous food product? 

Answer. Well, it is an undesirable one. It is like alum and most 
of those chemicals. They have no part in pure foods. 

The Chairman. Did you make a personal analysis of this? 

Answer. I examined them personally, all of these that I have sub- 
mitted here. Here is one that I have not examined completely [pro- 
ducing same], but I brought it down simplj^ because it has aniline 
coloring matters to make a sausage look bright red as well as to act 
as a preservative. It is a mixture of salt and niter, coloring matter, 
and I think some other substance. 

The Chairman. What is that called? 

Answer. This is called " Rosaline." It is put out by the same firm 
that puts out the f reezine ; and I have other of their artistic prepara- 
tions [producing another preparation]. There is what Heller & Co. 
sell. This is their sample bottle, and is called "Freezen." It is for 
chopped beef, etc., and it compares with this [referring to "New 
Method Meat Preserver"]. It is sulphite of sodium, with a little 
coloring matter in it. 

The Chairman. You consider that also an objectionable thing to 
go into food products? 

Answer. I do. 

The Chairman. Before you pass this "Rosaline," I will ask you 
have you made any analysis of this? 

Answer. No, sir; I have only examined it superficiall5^ It is salt, 
largely, and coloring matter of an aniline nature and niter and borax, 
or boracic acid. Here is a preservative that is largely pushed [pro- 
ducing same]. It is called "cream albuminoid." 

The Chairman. When you say "largely pushed," you mean exten- 
sively advertised? 

Answer. I mean advertised, and that agents are up there trying to 
place it among the dairymen. 

The Chairman. What is the name of that? 

Answer. Cream albuminoid. 

The Chairman. Where is it made? 

Answer. I have not any knowledge as to where it is made. It is 
sold by the Creamery Package Company, of Chicago. 

The Chairman. Is the address given there? 

Answer. The address is given on one of these others. It is not 
given on that one. 

A Bystander. The address is 5 Washington street. 

The Witness. I think most of these supply houses supply similar 
goods, but I don't say that definitely of this company especially. 
There is a demand for them. 

The Chairman. Have you analyzed that preserver? 

Answer. Yes, sir. It is what they have sold under the name of 
Preservaline. It is boracic acid or borax, mixed with gelatin pow- 
der. The object of the gelatin is to give a thick creamy consistency 
to milk, which is preserved with this, or to thin cream. 

The Chairman. That you say is objectionable, the same as all the 
other antiseptics? 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is objectionable, both as an antiseptic and 
as a fraud. That is a combination. 

The Chairman. It is doubly objectionable, then? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It comes under both heads of the resolution — that 
is, a fraud upon the consumer, and at the same time it is deleterious 
to j)ublic health? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 115 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is it yon have in yonr hand there, Professor? 

Answer. This is a sample bottle of coloring matter, which is sent 
out to color cream and skimmed milk to make it look like a milk 
rich with cream. 

The Chairman. What is that made of? 

Answer. That is made of sulj)holated aniline, yellow. 

The Chairman. What do you say as to the propriety of the use of 
that? 

Answer. Why, the object of its use is deception. I think it is ruled 
out of the first class that we mentioned, and this is largely deceptive. 
It is one of the coloring matters that is not exceedingly injurious, but 
it is an aniline coloring matter. 

The Chairman. When you say "an aniline coloring matter," I was 
laboring under the impression that aniline meant red. 

Answer. No, sir; it means made of aniline oil, a chemical obtained 
from coal tar, and they take many hues. There are many hundreds 

of different compounds, and many of them are . Aniline first came 

into importance through the production of a red coloring matter, 
which took the iDlace of a very valuable red coloring matter of nature. 

The Chairman. What is that called? 

Answer. Magentan was that coloring matter ; so that aniline came 
into importance as a coloring product for its redness, but now the 
colors have taken almost ever hue. 

The Chairman. Then when you speak of aniline dyes it may mean 
any color? 

Answer. It may mean any color which is derived from coal-tar 
products, having aniline as a basis. 

The Chairman. Have you any other samples? 

Answer. I have no others in this connection. 

The Chairman. Any antiseptics? 

Answer. Here is one which is sold, a preservative compound, for use 
in canning fruit. [Witness here produces same.] Parties have sold 
this preservative compound for this use, and I don't know that they 
advocate its use in private families, but they have stated in their cir- 
cular that it is not a salicylic-acid process. They have not stated 
what the compound is, but the circular states that it is not the sali- 
cylic-acid process. The material is salicylic acid, salicilate of soda, 
and phosphate of soda — a mixture of those three. 

The Chairman, What is it called? 

Answer. Thej^ sell not the material, but the process, and they call 
it the "American woman's standard canning process," and they sell 
the process and give the material, with their method of working; and 
they frequently sell the process to parties owning large orchards, in 
order to preserve their fruit, and they frequently will jiay a large sum 
of money for the use of the process, and they will put up their goods, 
unknowingly, with salicylic acid, without boiling them, and they can 
use less sugar in the preserves, and in that waj' they innocently injure 
the public. 

The Chairman. The ingredients them,selves, you say, are not neces- 
sarily deleterious to health? 

Answer. The ingredients are; but they sell it without telling what 
the ingredients are to the party Av^ho buys the process, and the party 
who buys the process uses these chemicals not knowing their actual 
composition. 

Senator Harris. He thinks the gun is not loaded? 



116 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. That is a fair summary of it. 

The Chairman. That is another process for getting deleterious 
food into tlie stomachs of people that we have not had before this 
committee — by selling a process, and getting people to innocently use 
the process, which really contains injurious substances? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. They are accessories before the fact. 

The Witness. They rented a booth at the State fair, and hired a 
lady to show canned goods preserved with this material, and then 
ladies going by taste and look at the fruit, and it is ver}^ bright and 
the color is good. It has not been boiled. The color is bright, and 
the goods look nice, and they find ready sales for it, and their counters 
are generally crowded. 

The Chairman. They simply give the prescription? 

Answer. No; they give them this, already put up. They do not 
tell them what the substance is. They give them these packages, of 
which that is a small sample [referring to sample previously produced], 
and they make them write to them and get more, if they want more. 

The Chairman. Have you anj^ other preservatives? 

Answer. Nothing that is not along the same lines. 

The Chairman. There are certain food and drink products that 
actually require a limited amount of preservatives, are there not, 
outside of sugar? 

Answer. There are certain food products that are perishable. The 
old-fashioned notion was that we needed to use those fooa products 
while they were in season and fresh. For example, that in the fall 
cider was made from apples, and it was used then, and there were 
apples for it then, and it was used while it was fresh and sweet, until 
it got hard. When it got sour, they let it go into vinegar, and sold 
the pure cider vinegar. Now it seems that cider merchants think it 
necessary to keep cider in its apparently new state by the use of pre- 
servatives, and I think they are objectionable. 

The Chairman. I suppose one objection would be. Professor, that 
they are put into the hands of and for the use of ignorant people, 
who do not know how little or how much they may use with safety. 

Answer. That is one objection, and another is that they are getting 
so that they enter into every class of foods, while you take a little in 
the cider, a little in the milk, and a little in the canned goods, in the 
aggregate you get considerable quantities ; and they have got to be 
stopped somewhere, and I think the place to stop them is to keep 
them out. 

The Chairman. And it is used in beer, is it not. Doctor? 

Answer. It is especially used in beer, I tliink, for bottling pur- 
poses and exporting. I don't think it is used to much extent in lager 
beer that is manufactured by good brewers. 

The Chairman. You mean honest brewers? 

Answer. Brewers that have good methods. They don't need to use 
it in their lager beer. It is quickly consumed, and the beer will not 
break down before it is used; but in bottled beers, where it is shipped 
long distances, and the temperature rises very much, unless they are 
very carefully treated — the easier way out of it is for the brewers to 
preserve it. That is a simple statement of it. 

The Chairman. Have you had any occasion to analyze any of the 
bottled beers that contain antiseptics? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have. I found it in some of the bottled beers. 

A recess was here taken until 2.30 o'clock. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. Il7 

2:45 P. M. 
The committee met pursuant to recess, whereupon Prof. A. S. 
Mitchell resumed the stand and further testified as follows: 

Examination continued by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. Professor, have you any other matter to present to 
the committee touching the adulteration of foods which to your 
opinion are deleterious to the public health which now occurs to youV 

Answer. There are none that occur to me which affect public health. 
That statement does not apply to drugs, but to foods. 

(The members of the committee consulted together with Chief Chem- 
ist Wiley as to whether the committee should enter in its investiga- 
tion into the matter of the adulteration of drugs, whereupon:) 

The Chairman. Very well, Professor, if you have any suggestion 
as to deleterious products that might strictly be called drugs and j-et 
might, because of the manner of their preparation, enter into foods, 
you may give us such suggestions. 

Answer. Cream of tartar was mentioned by Dr. Wiley. There is one 
thing which I have examined to some extent. As a rule, the cream of 
tartars which were purchased by the inspectors in Wisconsin of the 
drug stores was of usually high grade and generally had a large 
amount of actual cream of tartar in it. The samples which were pur- 
chased of the grocers, as a rule, were not cream of tartar to any great 
extent. Eighty per cent of those from the grocers were substitutes 
for cream of tartar. They were substitutes that were generally com- 
posed of acid phosphates of lime and alum mixed with starch, and 
sometimes small amounts of cream of tartar were in them. In a few 
samples cream of tartar was impure, with possibly natural impurities 
in large amounts — tartrate of lime and sulphate of lime. Small 
amounts of the two latter imperes were more or less present in some 
of the samples from the drug stores, but the drug-store sample swere 
of much higher grade and much more nearly worth the value paid for 
them. 

The Chairman. These adulterated cream of tartars which you have 
described you consider deleterious, do you? 

Answer. Well, that is the same quesuion that we had concerning 
the alum baking powders. I don't think alum is suitable for food nor 
for food products. They are substitutes for the genuine cream of 
tartar and they are sold generally as phosphatic cream of tartars. The 
jobber buying of the manufacturer buys them as phosphatic tartrates, 
but he -sells them to the grocer as cream of tartar. They did, at least, 
until we investigated them up there some. 

The Chairman. Pure cream of tartar itself you do not consider 
deleterious? 

Answer. Cream of tartar is a chemical. Any drug itself, if given 
in amounts large enough, will cause physiological effects. I would 
prefer cream of tartar to an alum substitute by all odds. 

The Chairman. What other substitute is used for cream of tartar 
besides alum? 

Answer. Acid phosphate of lime. 

Q. How is that made? What is it made from? — A. As an actual fact, 
I don't know the exact process of the making. It is made either from 
bone phosphate or from the natural rock phosphate, and it is made 
by treatment with sulphuric acid — mixing a little with the sulphate 
of lime in a measure, and the acid phosphate of lime is set free, and 
that solution is evaporated with a small amount of the sulphate of 



118 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

lime ill it, forming this moist or nearly dry acid phospliate, and that 
is mixed generally with flour to stop its caking. They generally mix 
it with starch. 

The Chairman. Now, take this matter of the starch that is used 
in mixing these adulterants, and used in mixing baking powders; is 
there any difference in that starch, or is it usually one kind? 

Answer. It is usually cornstarch. 

The Chairman. Do you know a substance which is sometimes called 
flourine, which is a by-product of glucose? 

Answer. I know of it, but I don't know much about it. I know it 
has been used as an adulterant for white starches occasionally. 

The Chairman. You have never had occasion to analyze its food 
qualities, have you? 

Answer. I have a sample and had examined it, but I had not made 
an ultimate analysis. 

The Chairman. Then you would not wish to give an opinion as to 
its healthfulness? 

Answer. I don't think I am competent; no, sir. 

The Chairman. We have another class of adulterants covered by 
the direction of the resolution, known as mere commercial deceits, that 
are not deleterious to health. I would like to have you state, for the 
benefit of the committee, some of those that are most prominent, in 
your opinion, and the remedy which you would advise for them. 

Answer. There are foods which are in themselves food, like flour or 
buckwheat middlings, which are frequently mixed with foods of an 
entirely different class, as condiments, and sold. Those foods, in my 
opinion, should be entirely prohibited when mixed with food of another 
class. They are simply adulterants, just used for the purpose of 
reducing the strength and for cheapening the whole of the product. 
They add nothing to the value of it, and are nothing more than a sim- 
ple diluent. 

The Chairman. Your opinion would be that you should prohibit the 
use of, for instance, cocoanut shells in pepper? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I would go further than that. The cocoanut shells 
are not in themselves a food ; they are used simply to adulterate — to 
increase the bulk in weight of the compound; but I would go further 
than that and say that pepper should not be adulterated — white pepper, 
for instance, with buckwheat middlings, even though the latter is a food. 

The Chairman. Buckwheat middlings is one of the common adul- 
terants of pepper? 

Answer. For the white pepper; yes. 

The Chairman. It is not deleterious to health? 

Answer. Not at all. 

The Chairman. If it was marked for what it was, what objection 
would there be to selling it? 

Answer. Just this, that there are two classes of compounds. One 
you can mark with a formula, and thej^ do some good in permitting 
their sale. To go to another branch of foods, for an illustration : You 
can compound certain sirups, and certain flours, like buckwheat and 
corn and wheat flour, and make a pancake flour and put the formula 
on it, and each one of these flours is suitable for a pancake flour, and 
it adds to the value of the compound, and makes a mixture of a cer- 
tain consistency and desirability; and the purchaser, the consumer, 
may want that mixture and desire it. The same with breakfast foods. 
That sort of a compound is a legitimate compound; but if you should 
add to the pepper, if you should add anything the sole purpose of 



A.DULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 119 

which was to dilute it to make it look like i^epper and increase its 
bulk and weight so that the consumer thinks it is pepper, the con- 
sumer gets nothing whatever for the flour or the adulterant, whatever 
it is, even though the adulterant is a food which is in there, for his 
money. The consumer gets less pepper in either case than if he had 
bought the full pepper at the full price and diluted it himself. It is 
only the middleman and the jobber who get the benefit of diluting 
with these substances which belong to other classes of foods. 

There are other compounds that are permissible, perhaps — like fla- 
vors which give flavors like vanilla — and cheaper beans, like the tonka 
beans, can be used with vanillin and made into a solution which will 
give a desirable flavor, a cheap flavor, a substitute for vanilla, that 
can be used in many compounds. The flavor is not as fine and nice 
as the genuine, by any means, but it is a cheap substitute which per- 
fectly takes its place, just the same as glucose in sirups, for instance, 
in common sirups, takes the place of cane sugar. It is in itself a 
good substitute, just as oleomargarine takes the place of butter in its 
place as a substitute, but it should not be sold as the genuine. Those 
compounds, I think, if they can be controlled, are permissible, but 
compounds which are simply pepper adulterated with flour, or cocoa- 
nut shells, or cinnamon refuse, or ground ginger, or, as in one case I 
knew of, with ground junk or tarred rope ground into it to give it the 
stringiness necessary. Those compounds are not permissible, even if 
they are labeled as adulterated. 

The Chairman. What was this case where you say the rope was 
ground in? 

Answer. Ginger is a root and the fiber of it is peculiarly stringy, 
and if you adulterate it with anything which runs readily over it, 
flows readily, it does not give the stringy consistency of the ginger; 
and in one case the ingenious adulterator used old tarred rope, junk. 
That is unusual. That is not, of course, customary. 

The Chairman. I should judge from your statements that you are 
familiar with the use of glucose in the place of cane sugar. I am 
trying to get the distinction that you make, but perhaps I am unfor- 
tunate. Would you permit glucose to be mixed with cane sugar or 
with cane sirup and sold for what it is? 

Answer. With the formula printed; yes, sir; that is a legitimate 
compound in my oi)inion. 

The Chairman. But you would not permit pepper to be diluted 
with buckwheat bran, as you call it, even where it is marked. 

Answer. No, sir. Where the foods are of the same class; where 
one is a proper substitute for the other; where it could be used, in 
fact, where the other is not used at all, and takes its place as a food, 
such compounds, in my opinion, are permissible; but where the adul- 
terant is simply something to dilute, like water in milk, for instance, 
or like the flour in the pepper, why those compounds are not per- 
missible compounds. 

Senator Harris. Your remarks would apply especially to the adul- 
teration of coffee, then, with chicory — that is, if it were properly 
labeled? 

Answer. I think that would be a permissible compound if it were 
properly labeled, because chicory will make a drink, and while it 
does not produce the chemical or physiological effects of coffee, and 
while it is not coffee, yet it is a desirable drink, however, and liked 
by several persons. 



120 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. How would it be in the case of mustard, which is 
mixed with flour, turmeric, I believe, quite frequently? 

Answer. I think that flour is an objectionable diluent. 

Senato Harris. It destroys the beneficial effect'? 

Answer. It only weakens it; its only object in there is to weaken 
it. If the mustard were pure and had no flour in it, then you would 
be in the same position in adding the turmeric as you are with the 
butter in adding butter color, perhaps; and it is a question if the 
coloring was not deleterious and did not conceal some inferiority; it 
is a question whether you would not be pretty arbitrary in ruling out 
the coloring matter. 

The Chairman. The coloring matter in butter adds to the beauty 
of the butter, but it also deceives, does it not, the consumer somewhat 
in this, that in supposing that the butter he eats gets its coloring 
naturally he is misled? 

Answer. In that way every color added to a food helps to deceive 
the customer. 

Senator Harris. Helps to sell an inferior article? 

Answer. Not necessarily. It helps to sell the article. It is a ques- 
tion in my mind if, supposing we had yellow butter, made at this sea- 
son of the year from grass, and that butter was held until the fall, 
the butter would change, it would not be as bright, and would not be 
as fresh, and would tend to break down ; but it would have this nat- 
ural, nice yellow color. Now, had you rather eat butter which is 
made, say, along during next winter; hadn't you rather eat butter 
that wa,s made at that time, and is fresh and bright, and not rancid, 
and colored up so that it does not look like grass, provided it is not 
colored in imitation of anything else, or had you rather go back and 
eat storage butter which was made last June? 

Senator Harris. I would like to have the option and privilege of 
deciding which I would take. 

The Witness. Well, I think that is right. That is one question 
which I have been unable to decide for myself, whether those colors 
should be ruled out or not. I have not fully decided in my mind 
which would be better. 

The Chairman. But you are clearly of the opinion that it ought to 
be ruled out of all articles, like oleomargarine, that are used as sub- 
stitutes? 

Answer. Where it covers up imitations in any food article, it ought 
to be ruled out, and beyond question where it conceals inferiority in 
the food article it ought to be ruled out. If you are going to go 
further than that, maybe, as a matter of policy, it might be better to 
rule them out entirely; but the actual damage does not seem to be 
great in their use. 

Senator Harris. I would like you to say something about what your 
experience has shown you in regard to the adulterations of coffee. 
Have you found any really deleterious adulterants of coffee, or are 
the adulterants more for the purpose of swindling in bulk and 
weight, and all that kind of thing? 

Answer. I think the latter. I don't know as I can add much to 
what has been testified in that respect. A few years ago coffee was 
high in price, quite high in price, and there were farms started in 
north of Milwaukee there, raising chicory in large amounts; and 
fraudulent beans were manufactured all over the country, and they 
sold, roughl}', at 9 cents a pound, the fraudulent coffee beans. They 
looked like coffee beans when they were roasted ; they had the little 
crease in the center of the berry, and those were on the market a few 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 121 

years ago. Of late I have not met with them, but I have met with 
considerable coffee that is coated or glazed. The claim of the coffee 
man is that glazing fills the pores and keeps in the aroma, the flavor 
of the coffee. That is their side of it. Our side of it is that it makes 
in weight and covers up imperfections. They take the black beans 
that tliey can buy very cheaply and they put on coloring matter at 
.the same time they put on the glaze, which is some kind of dextrine. 
They put in a coloring matter like hematite, which is simply a min^ 
eral iron-ore paint, and that is fastened to the beans by the dextrine, 
so that it coats them and makes them a nice coffee brown or red 
brown in roasting. 

Senator Harris. Hematite would naturally add considerable weight, 
would it not? 

Answer. Thej^ don't add much in the process, but it tends to add 
to the weight considerably. 

The Chairman. As it goes through this process it will take up a 
good deal of this shiny stuff? 

Answer. Yes ; it takes up the dextrine and the shiny hematite with 
it, and it all tends to increase the weight and to make the coffee look 
uniform and bright and full and rich. 

The Chairman. Did you hear the evidence of Mr. Stewart here 
yesterday, when he showed us coffee here? 

Answer. No, sir; I did not. 

The Chairman. He called attention to some that he prepared him- 
self for the market. 

Answer. Was it glazed? 

The Chairman. It was glazed. And he also called attention to the 
fact that there was quite a percentage put in it of these dead beans ; 
that is to say, of these chicory beans, and he explained to the com- 
mittee that it was what is known as black-jack, which was shipped 
from Germany. 

The Witness. I have heard that name. 

The Chairman. And he testified that they were absolutely worth- 
less and worse than worthless? 

The Witness. They are much cheaper than the artificial beans. 
I don't think they sell for over between 3 and 4 cents. 

The Chairman. I think he said less than that, 2 or 3 cents a pound; 
it is known as black-jack. We propose, if we can, to have in the bill 
to prohibit the shipping of that into this country or the shipping into 
this country of any other article that is made in any other countries 
that can not be sold there. We wish to stop its coming here. What 
about ground coffee? 

The Witness. Pardon me. Did the gentleman think it desirable 
to prohibit glazing entirely or not? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

The Witness. That is our wish, but we have not succeeded in doing 
it up in our State so far. 

The Chairman. He testified that in his own State — he showed us 
coffee which he had glazed himself; and he said it added nothing to 
its value, I believe, but that he was obliged to do it to compete with 
his competitors. 

The Witness. That is so with most of the spice manufacturers, I 
think. 

Senator Harris. There was an idea suggested yesterday that was 
an interesting one, and one of value, and that owing to your connec- 
tion with the National Board of Health — I believe you have some con- 
nection with that? 



122 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The Witness. I simply do their chemical work in the State of Wis- 
consin, locally. 

Senator Harris. That was the desirabilit,y and the practicability of 
either our national board or the State boards establishing standards 
of purity for all of these spices. Say for red pepper and mustard, and 
allspice and cloves, and cinnamon and coffee, all should contain cer- 
tain percentages of the essential elements of those articles. Has that 
ever been considered? 

Answer. Our State law establishes such standards as are found in 
the Pharmacopoeia; that is the book compiled by physicians and 
druggists for the preparation of drugs and medicines, and I would 
like to add right here that it is necessary, if you follow a book which 
is edited ever so often, that it is well to specify the latest current 
edition thereof, because the formulators and revisers of this Phar- 
macopoeia find the new adulterations and the tests for them, and 
they alter their directions for these tests and standards; and so, to 
take advantage of their latest knowledge, it is well in such a bill, if 
you are going to follow the opinion or the standards laid down in the 
Pharmacopoeia, to specify in the law the latest current edition thereof. 
Otherwise, when there are two or three Pharmacopoeias out, one man 
may sell a thing at one strength, as required by one Pharmacopoeia, 
and another by a newer one, which is just out. 

Senator Harris. No matter how the standard may be taken, whether 
taken from such a work as the Pharmacopoeia, or whether established 
by boards, do you believe that a State board and State legislation 
could possibly cover the ground? 

Answer. They certainly could not unless they go by the standards 
laid down by the Pharmacopoeia. That is compiled by a very large 
body of men. 

Senator Harris. What I am getting at, is the police power of the 
State sufficient in that case? Can the State protect itself by establish- 
ing a law of that kind, saying that everybody should only sell goods 
that would reach a certain standard, and prescribing the standard ; 
or do you think it would require national legislation? 

Answer. I think national legislation is very desirable, but the way we 
have done in Wisconsin is not to hold things stiffly up to the standard 
laid down in the Pharmacopoeia, but to take a flagrant case of adul- 
teration, where the substance is far below the standard in the Phar- 
macopoeia, and bring the Pharmacopoeia in as quoted by our State 
law, as competent evidence of what a good and standard product 
should be; and there the courts have never failed to support us. 

Senator Harris. In other words, you have not established a State 
standard specifically? 

Answer. The standard is established specifically by the State law, 
that it shall be in certain quality and purity and conforming with the 
tests of the United States Pharmacopoeia. That is our State law; but 
in its enforcement we have used discretion, so much that if a thing 
was slightly below the standard we have not tried to prosecute par- 
ties who sold it; but if a thing is much below, then we have not gone 
by the standard, but we have simply used the standard to show what 
a good, pure, and satisfactory article was in our prosecutions, and 
there it has been very acceptable. I think the standard ought to 
be 

Senator Harris. Why not stand rigidly to the law and require that 
standard? This leniency in certain cases is always likely to be abused. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 123 

Answer, i have always felt that it was the spirit of the law that was 
to be carried out rather than the letter of the law, and we might work 
some hardships with the Wisconsin law if we should carry it out to 
the letter of the law. 

Senator Harris. If substantially similar laws were adopted in every 
State to those which you have, do you think that would be enough to 
cov^er it without Federal legislation? 

Answer. No, sir; I would like to see Federal legislation establishing 
standards. 

Senator Harris. You see there is some difiiculty about the practi- 
cability of utilizing Federal legislation to take the place of the police 
power of the States. 

Answer. Even if it could not go so far as that, it could regulate the 
sale of these goods in the Territories and in the traffic between the 
States, and we could easily control the manufactures within our own 
State. 

Senator Harris. The State certainly can control not only what is 
manufactured but what is oifered for sale within its limits. 

Answer. We can, I know ; but we only do it through rather a hard- 
sliip on the retailer. The retailer buys these goods of the representa- 
tives of men outside of the State and their agents, and he buys them 
in good faith. Now, if we pounce upon him and prosecute him vigor- 
ously in all these cases 

Senator Harris. He would be taught to beware. 

The Witness. We teach them to beware without any undue sever- 
ity, if we can. We prosecute them when they won't quit. We warn 
them and tell them what they are doing, and ask them to quit, and 
we inspect again in a week, and if they do not quit then we prosecute 
them. 

Senator Harris. I ask these questions because the matter of prac- 
ticability has got to be considered, and we have to consider just to 
what extent State laws can go in protecting the people without call- 
ing upon Federal legislation. It is to a certain extent when Federal 
legislation steps in to regulate the domestic affairs of the State that it 
brings us up against some of the fundamental principles of the Gov- 
ernment and makes trouble. There is difficulty in getting a law and 
enforcing it and sustaining it in the courts; and if it is possible for a 
State to protect itself by establishing standards of purity, perhaps, 
on the whole, it would be easier to reach the desired end that way 
than to have the Federal Government attempt it. 

The Witness. The only objection to it is the objection that it 
comes to them from the departments enforcing those laws and from 
the wholesaler in the outside States; that the legislation in the various 
States is miscellaneous in a measure, and they do not quite corre- 
spond, and the manufacturers in sending goods into the various States 
have to be careful in their labeling and about sending wrong goods. 
I have in my satchel mustards that are labeled especially for Wiscon- 
sin, and also the mustard ordinarily sold, which would illustrate that. 
So the manufacturers would like uniform legislation, and I don't 
think that any of the State departments, except one or two, would 
object to it. It is desirable from our standpoint. 

Senator Harris, State legislation has a decidedly beneficial effect. 
There is no doubt about that, not only from what you said, but we 
had a gentleman here this morning who said that the publication of 
the proportions of glucose and pure maple sugar, which was used 



124 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

in sirup, had tended, in Ohio, I think was the State he mentioned, to 
increase the sale of pure sirups and diminish the sales of inferior 
grades mixed with glucose. 

The Witness. That is so with flavoring extracts in Wisconsin. 
The manufacturers of purer and stronger flavoring extracts are wholly 
in favor with us, and they say that sales have increased thribble. 

Senator Harris. It helps the better article? 

Answer. Yes, sir; it has in many cases. 

Senator Harris. What drugs, as far as investigation goes, are most 
adulterated? You may name a few of the most common drugs. 

Answer. Most of our work has been officially on foods. Our law has 
been in effect up there only a little over a year, and we have had a 
great deal of work on foods, and we have not really done work on 
drugs at all thoroughly as yet. The most of the drugs so far which 
we have met with that were adulterated were simply not properly 
purified; not purified simply to conform to the medicinal strength 
laid down. 

Senator Harris. Not sufficient in strength? 

Answer. To the medicinal strength as laid down by the pharmaco- 
poeia, which is the standard for our drugs ; it was a little higher than 
that found in many of the drugs. Such drugs as are commodities are 
the ones most adulterated; for instance, such as so-called household 
ammonia, compounds that are called cherry phosphate, root beer, and 
things of that sort; they are hardly drugs, but are commonly on sale 
and prepared by druggists. 

Senator Harris. Do you think that the establishment of a national 
board of health with power to prescribe standards would be of value? 

Answer. I think it would in a degree, but I think that the standards 
ought to be in a measure fixed by the law. 1 think they ought to be 
considered l)y Congress rather than a board. 

Senator Harris. What I mean is, of course, that the national board 
of health would, by the collection of proper evidence, arrive at the 
standards, and that then they would become the lawful standards, the 
legal standards, that would give it the force of law. 

The Witness. I would rather see the standards established by Con- 
gress, by an act of Congress. 

Senator Harris. Congress would have to act through some such 
body as the board of health. There would be constant changes. 

The Witness. The standards for most of those things are laid down 
in the pharmacopoeias, whicli are standard works and authorities on 
them, and all of these manufacturers manufacture their goods of the 
purities, or at least label them as of the purity, and manufacture them 
in accordance with the tests and strengths laid down by the pharma- 
copoeia. 

Senator Harris. That is, there are alread}^ standards established 
which could be taken? 

Answer. 'I'here are standards adopted which should be adopted in 
the law, in my opinion. 

Senator Harris. If the law went no further than merely to require 
that the ingredients or the formula should be given, that it should be a 
matter of giving notice to the buyer just what he is buying, without 
an attempt to prohibit, how far do you think that would benefit the 
public? 

Answer. I tried to fix that. I don't think that a certain class of 
goods should be permitted to be sold, even with a formula. The rea- 
son is quite clear. If a man sells a pail of adulterated pepper, and 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 125 

on a label on the side of the pail he marks it in small letters "adul- 
terated pepper" at the bottom of the pail — that is taken into a grocery 
store and put under a counter or on a counter, for that matter, with the 
label toward the grocer. A woman comes in and asks for pepper, and 
no woman ever asked, to my knowledge, for adulterated pepper that 
she intended to use herself. The grocer, without comment or remark 
at all upon the package which he sells her, dishes out this pepper, and 
in that way he sells his whole pail of pepper. There are other com- 
pounds, like the compound sirup, that the woman would take, know- 
ing it was a compound. So she might take oleomargarine, or a lard 
substitute, knowing what it was, but there is a certain class of goods 
that nobody would use, for they are not used as compounds, and 
those, I think, ought to be prohibited entirely. 

The Chairman. Have you in the course of your examinations had 
any occasion to analyze different samples of lard? 

Answer. I have examined some, but I have not made any positive 
examination of those on the market. 

The Chairman. Do you know whether lard is adulterated or not? 

Answer. I do. 

The Chairman. What with? 

Answer. It is adulterated with certain grades of cotton-seed oil, 
that -nake the lard of softer consistency than it would ordinarily be, 
and the consistency would be brought back by the addition of beef 
stearin. Exceptionally, paraffin wax has been used to bring back 
this consistency. 

The Chairman. How is that made? 

Answer. It is a petroleum product, made from coal oil. 

The Chairman. Is it, in your opinion, a good food product? 

Answer. It is not a food. It is perfectly indigestible and is not a 
food. A lard compound containing that should, in my opinion, be 
prohibited. That does not belong to the food class. 

The Chairman. Take the other products, beef stearin, and cotton- 
seed oil. Those you do not consider deleterious to health? 

Answer. Not necessarily, no, sir; I should think they might be 
permitted. Their sale might be permitted under proper labels. 

The Chairman. Why would not the same objection apjDly to a pail 
or a large cask of lard which would apply to the pepper, when people 
come in and ask for lard, or do they buy it all in original packages? 

Answer. I think then that the labeling should be the same on the 
smaller packages in each case; but the same objection would not apply 
with quite as much force, because the adulterant in the pepper is an 
inert substance that does not take the place of the pepper itself, but 
these other oils do take the place in the food and in the cooking, pro- 
vided they are not paraffin or something of that sort that the lard does. 

The Chairman. But beef stearin will produce the thickness that is 
taken away by the introduction of cotton-seed oil. 

Answer. That is its object largely. 

The Chairman. If you put in enough of it? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. But you can put in less paraffin wax? 

Answer. Very much less. 

The Chairman. And produce the same stiffening quality? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you have any State law on that subject? 

Answer. Our State law would be sufficient to cover it, I think. The 
paraffin wax would be considered a deleterious subject, and I think 
we could obtain conviction upon it. We never have. 



126 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

The Chairman. What would you suggest as to national legislation 
on that subject? 

Answer. I think legislation requiring branding on the smaller pack- 
ages — the packages that would ultimately be delivered to the con- 
sumer — would be sufficient perhaps. 

Senator Harris. Do you think so with oleomargarine? 

Answer, I think so; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you know what butter oil is? 

Answer. Butter oil? You don't mean oleo oil? 

The Chairman. No ; I mean an oil that is sometimes sold, called a 
butter oil. 

Answer. I am not certain that I recognize it under that name. 

The Chairman. Did you ever know of its being used in the manu- 
facture of butterine? 

Answer. I think it is what I call oleo oil. 

The Chairman. What is oleo oil? 

Answer. It is extracted from beef stearin, the more fluid portion 
of beef stearin, that is used in the manufacture of oleomargarine, 
mixed with neutral lard, or sometimes the addition of cotton-seed oil, 
to make butter imitations. 

The Chairman. Butterine sells wholesale and retail at different 
prices, does it not? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What makes some of it cheaper than others and 
some dearer than others? Is it a mere arbitrary fixing of the price, 
or is there some real reason for it. in 3^our opinion? 

Answer. I think there is some considerable reason for the price. It 
is somewhat arbitrary, of course. 

The Chairman. Some years ago it was quoted at 2 cents a pound? 

Answer. Some years ago we used to get butterine with considerable 
actual butter in it. Now we get very small percentages in it, indeed. 
And of course butterine that had butter in it would cost considerably 
more, and the butterine which is made largely of cheaper oils sells for 
a lower price. 

Senator Harris. Did the creameries of your State ever use in their 
butter, as an adulterant, oleomargarine or any of its products in any 
form? I have heard that creameries did buy from the packing houses 
oleomargarine and these various oils and work it in with their butter. 

The Witness. I think there were two instances. I have investigated 
several of them, but I never found anybody who did, but I know 
through hearsay of two instances. Of course that is in violation of 
the internal-revenue laws, and the penalty is very severe for that, and 
it is not done to any extent. 

Senator Harris. I asked if it had ever been done because I sup- 
posed from what I had heard that the practice had been more or less 
stamped out. 

The Witness. I think it has, but I think I know of two cases that 
would come in that class. 

Senator Harris. Your State legislation has assisted in that direc- 
tion by supplementing the national legislation? 

Answer. Yes, sir; we have worked hand in hand as much as we 
could. We assist them and they us. 

The Chairman. I did not quite understand. In what way can oleo- 
margarine be made cheaper? You say the cheaper oils. Are there 
any other oils besides cotton-seed oil that can be put in? 

Answer. Cocoanut oil has been suggested. I don't know that it is 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 127 

in use in any butterine manufactured on the market to-day. Cocoa- 
nut oil is used for a lard substitute. 

The Chairman. Cocoanutoil; that is the oil of the meat of the 
cocoanut? 

Answer. Of the cocoanut; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And if properly handled 

Answer. It is a clean vegetable oil. 

The Chairman. This oleo oil or butter oil, if that is the same, then, 
is a product of beef stearin? 

Answer. Yes, sir; of beef fat, with the more solid portions removed, 
crystallized, and pressed out. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions. Professor, as to the law 
in regard to oleomargarine? I believe I asked you that this morning, 
though. 

Answer. The only one I can think of is that a national anticoloring 
law would aid in its enforcement; would aid the consumer in knowing 
when he gets it. 

The Chairman. Have you ever heard of any adulterations of tallow? 

Answer. By the use of the fat of dead animals, etc.? You mean 
tallow for soap making and similar purposes? 

The Chairman. No; take tallow for crude purposes. It is used 
somewhat for crude purposes, is it not? 

Answer. It may be, but not to my knowledge. 

The Chairman. Isn't it really tallow that goes into oleomargarine? 

Answer. It is this oleo oil and butter oil that come from it, but I 
had never heard of that being adulterated in itself ; but I have never 
examined into it to see. The commercial grades of tallow that are 
used as grease on the market of course have unclean fats in them 
sometimes — that is, they are not cleanly in their manufacture. 

The Chairman. Is there any way now to distinguish, in manufac- 
turing tallow, so that when you buy it for any use you can tell whether 
it is tallow from refuse, or dead animals picked up on the street, or 
whether it is tallow from a healthy animal? 

Answer. I know of none except by its general odor and general 
appearance. The oils that are used in the better grade of food prod- 
ucts are carefully kept from becoming tainted or rancid. The price 
of the product is lessened rapidly if any tainted oils are used. 

The Chairman. Do you think of any other substance now that is 
adulterated that is a mere fraud? 

Answer. Flavoring extracts, possibly. 

Q. Just tell us about that, please. — A, May I get a few samples 
which I have in the other room? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

(The witness produced same.) 

The Chairman. Now, we will take these samples one at a time. 
What is an extract that you are talking about now? 

Answer. Well, an extract is sort of a trade name at present for the 
various flavors which represent and in many cases are obtained from 
fruits and substances, with the names pertaining to them. The extract 
may be largely alcoholic. 

The Chairman. What are they usually made and sold for — for what 
purpose? 

Answer. These extracts are sold for flavoring foods, and in some 
cases medicinal purposes. The lemon extract is made in accordance 
with the formula given in the Pharmacopoeia for spirits of lemon; 
that is the more technical name than "extract." It should contain at 



128 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

least 5 per cent of the pure oil of lemon peel, and that should be dis- 
solved in deodorized stronger alcohol and colored with lemon peel the 
color of lemon peel. The Pharmacopoeia, in its last revision, in the 
attempt to get the scale as near to a decimal scale for all products as 
possible, changed the formula, which required 1 ounce of oil in a pound 
of extract, which made it 6.13 per cent of oil, I think — changed the 
formula to 5 per cent of oil, attempting to get back to decimal 10 
better, attempting to get them all on a regular basis of 5 and 10 per 
cent, etc. So the last Pharmacopoeia requires 5 per cent of oil. The 
druggist manufacturers, according to the Pharmacopoeia, and the older 
druggists, many of theui, manufacture a stronger extract, and the 
higlier priced extracts on the market contain larger amounts of oil of 
lemon, up to 8 per cent of the oil dissolved in alcohol. 

When the Wisconsin law took effect the lemon extracts which were 
on the market had so little oil in them, many of them, that if they 
were put into water they did not even cloud it. Oil and water do not 
mix readily. They have just a little of the aroma of the lemon, and they 
were highly colored with aniline colors; generally aniline yellow, tro- 
pooelin, and dy-nytral-creosol are the compounds which were commonly 
used, and which I have often found, which make this bright yellow color 
which is given to this article. Stronger alcohol was not used in these ex- 
tracts. Most of the expense of making a lemon extract is the expense of 
the alcohol, with the tax that is on it, with only 5 per cent of oil in a bot- 
tle of extract; and the oil itself costing only about 60 cents a pound, the 
actual oil in value is only a fractional cent if tliere is 5 per cent of oil; so 
the expense in making the extract is in the alcohol. If they use weak 
alcohol — that is, alcohol with water — tlie water will not dissolve the oil. 
The alcohol strength ran down from 93 and 94 per cent, which it should 
be of alcohol, down to as low as 13 and 12 per cent in exceptional 
cases, and then, of course, if they used oil of lemon, the lemon flavor 
would be so weak that the extract would not be readily salable, so they 
use something which has a lemonlike flavor, even in small amounts, 
and that is ribbon grass, a lemon grass which is much like our garden 
ribbon grass, but grown in the East India Islands, from which an oil 
is extracted which lias a rank lemon flavor; and a trace of that oil — 
less than one-tenth of 1 per cent — will flavor these extracts so they 
taste a little lemony and smell considerably so. They don't taste so 
much so, but they smell quite like lemon extract. 

The Chairman. Is that sample you have there supposed to be lemon 
extract? 

Answer. I have several samples here. Some are lemon extracts 

The Chairman. Well, just take the lemon extracts first, so as to 
have some system about it. Have you made a chemical analysis of 
those? 

Answer. I have one certain brand here. I will show you several 
samples of this same make which I have examined, and show j^ou the 
variation which the State law has caused in extracts up there. You 
see how thin that bottle is [indicating] , and that is made with stronger 
alcohol and has over 5 per cent of oil of lemon in it, and is not highly 
colored, you notice. That complies with the Wisconsin law. To sell 
it at the price at which they have been selling these cheap extracts 
they have cut down the size of the bottle to that size. When the law 
first took effect, this same manufacturer hoped that we would onlj^ be 
critical in regard to the purity of lemon extracts and not as to their 
strength. So he made a pure lemon extract, uncolorec'. He thought 
we were going to entirely prohibit the coloring of lemon extracts, 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 129 

whether they were colored to conceal inferiority or not; and if we were 
not going to consider strength, there was one that was pure, weak 
alcohol and pure oil of lemon, and that was the extract put ujjon the 
market by that firm at this time. We wrote to him, and he changed 
his formula and now sells in Wisconsin this one [exhibiting another 
bottle of extract] , which complies with the law in strength as well as 
purity. 

The Chairman. It is simply whittled in size? 

Answer. It is simply whittled in size, but still, if it was whittled in 
size — I can not tell you just the amount of oil in this one, but there is 
much less than 1 per cent of oil. If this [indicating] contains 5 per 
cent of oil, the bottle could be one-fifth that size and still have as 
much actual flavor in it as the other has. The chief extracts on the 
market had less than one-tenth of 1 per cent of oil of lemon, when 
they should have over 5 — that is, one-fiftieth of the actual flavoring 
which they should have. They obtain this of weakly alcohol, with 
the oil of lemon — pure, nice oil of lemon — by adding this ribbon grass 
and by adding citral obtained from ribbon grass, which has less rank- 
ness. Citral is also obtained from oil of lemon. There [referring to 
bottle] is one of the compounds which was sold, marked "compound 
extract of oil of lemon and citral," with lemon peel for "lemon flavor." 
They don't call this lemon extract, but they say it is for lemon flavor. 
It happens there is no real good substitute for lemon extract except 
oil of lemon, as that is because we have not permitted the sale of 
compounds as substitutes for lemon extracts in Wisconsin. Most of 
the extracts have the aroma, but lack in strength. They will not 
flavor materials made from them as they should. 

The Chairman. How about vanilla extracts? 

Answer. Before I leave lemons, here is an extract [producing a bot- 
tle] that had 7 or 8 per cent of oil, and it was on the market, made 
with stronger alcohol, and there [indicating] is a sample of a good 
commercial extract. It had nearly 8 per cent of oil, and there are 
many others; that is not an exceptional one. The vanilla extracts 

The Chairman. How should it be made? 

Answer. The Pharmacopoeia requires that it should be made with 
10 per cent of vanilla beans, and alcohol and water; no coloring mat- 
ter. That would make quite an expensive extract, and a very strong, 
fine one. Vanilla extracts are very hard things to control, either 
chemically or commercially. There are many substitutes for the 
vanillas which in themselves are good flavoring substitutes, but much 
cheaper, much inferioi^, and perhaps somewhat injurious. 

The Chairman. What are the substitutes used for the vanilla bean? 

Answer. The natural flavor in the vanilla bean is somewhat due, 
largely due, to a crystalline substance called vanillin. This substance 
can be made artificially; this same crystalline substance can be made 
artificially from other substances. It was made first from a layer 
between the bark of the willow and the wood, and is made from simi- 
lar sappy layers in other coniferous trees. Finally processes were 
found for making it from oil of cloves. Oil of cloves contains a chem- 
ical substance called eugenol. This eugenol can be readily converted 
bj^ chemical methods into this substance which is produced in the 
vanilla bean by its ripening. Vanilla beans themselves have other 
substances that lend aroma and lend lody — ole-resins that lend body 
to the extract — besides this one active principle, but this is the active 
principle of the vanilla bean, just the same as quinine is the active 
principle of Peruvian bark. But it does not mean, by any means. 
F p 9 



130 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

that the whole of the good of the vanilla is embodied in that one 
chemical. 

The Chairman. In other words, the vanilla bean has other qualities 
which add to the real value of vanilla as an extract, which you can not 
get outside of the vanilla bean? 

Answer. Which you can not get outside of the vanilla bean, or out- 
side of that one crystalline substance. Still, that is a valuable flavor- 
ing substance in itself, vanillin is. They can not have as much of 
this oil of lemon grass, and these other substitutes in the lemons so 
well. 

Then there is used as a substitute in vanilla flavoring the tonka 
bean, a much cheaper bean, a little bean which you may remember 
seeing the older folks use in their snuffboxes, a little brown bean, 
about as long as the joint of your finger, and it has a grayish-wdiite 
powder, and it is very aromatic, and the old ladies used it to flavor 
and scent their snuff. That tonka bean gives a strong flavoring sub- 
stance that is used as a substitute for vanillin. Then the flavor of 
this tonka bean is due largely to its active principle, cumarin. The 
cumarin is also made chemically, artificially, from coal-tar products, 
and that cumarin will impart a flavor to solutions similar to the tonka 
bean. Cumarin causes dizziness and headache, and it has some marked 
physiological poisonous effects when used in quantities; it is more 
objectionable than vanillin. 

The Chairman. It is used in some cases as a substitute for vanilla? 

Answer. It is commonly used. Almost all the cheaper grades of 
vanilla extracts that j'ou find in the stores to-day contain cumarin, 
either natural cumarin from the tonka beans or cumarin artificially 
made. 

The Chairman. That, j^ou consider, is a fraud upon the consumer, 
and at the same time a deleterious substance? 

Answer. It is a fraud, and it is a question if it is not a deleterious 
substance that should be prohibited — the cumarin. I have here a 
sample of vanilla and tonka compound extract, or, rather vanilla and 
tonka compound, which was sold on the market in Milwaukee as 
extract of vanilla, for flavoring ice cream, cakes, jellies, custards, etc. 
When this law took effect, the manufacturer of this compound sent 
his men into Wisconsin and told them, in order to comply with this 
law, to re-mark these bottles which were marked "Extract of va- 
nilla" — to strike their pens through the word "Extract" and write 
above vanilla the word "For," and to print on top of the label the 
words " Vanilla tonka compound," making it read "For vanilla for 
flavoring." There was no claim that it was vanilla; but before this 
law went into effect they used the original label, and also alterations. 

The Chairman. Did you analyze any of this? 

Answer. I did not analyze that. The tonka nut smells — I can tell 
by the smell it is tonka extract ; that much of it. 

The Chairman. Before the law it read "Extract of vanilla," " for 
flavoring ice creams, jellies, cakes, custards, etc." After the law it 
is branded " Vanilla and tonka compound. For vanilla. For flavor- 
ing. " 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is sold as a substitute for vanilla. 

The Chairman. 13ut the ordinary man who simply saw that word 
"vanilla" there — and if I asked for vanilla extract, and was not criti- 
cal in examining, I would get this, would I not? 

Answer. Yes, sir. Almost all of those are colored. They are col- 
ored sometimes with brown sugar. Here is another one that was 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 131 

mannfactured similarly, and labeled in accordance with the Wiscon- 
sin law. [Exhibiting same.] 

The Chairman. This is now under the present law of Wisconsin? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It reads, "Holland Imperial. Full measui-e, com- 
pound extract from vanilla," etc. 

Answer. That is another of our State rulings. It is necessary in 
the enforcement of these laws, if we find anything which is working 
injur}^, to change our rulings, and we always reserve the privilege, 
after due notice, to change our rulings, if any undue advantage is 
being taken of them. 

The Chairman. Is this vanilla? 

Answer. That has not been analyzed. It was brought for the label's 
sake only. 

The Chairman. It says, "Compound extract of vanilla and cumarin." 

Answer. Yes, sir. The coloring of these substances — these extracts 
have been colored largely with brown sugar, but after we became able 
to readily detect the caramel color in the extracts they had to get a 
coloring matter which would be harder for the detection of the chem- 
ists. They got an extract which Avas like the coloring from the beans, 
and then they began to color with prune juice, which is a little harder 
for us to detect. That is a dry substance, somewhat similar in char- 
acter to the vanilla beans, but there is a chemical difference in the 
ole-resins, and that can be stopped, probably. 

The Chairman. I understand you to say. Professor, that in this 
matter of extracts both branches of this investigation are covered. 
Some adulterated, simply fraudulent, and some of them are adulter- 
ated in a way so that they are not only fraudulent but deleterious to 
public health? 

Answer. Yes, sir; possibly deleterious. 

The Chairman. This cumarin will produce dizziness? 

Answer. It will in large amounts. Still, the question will then come 
up whether in the use as a flavoring there is enough of this cumarin 
to produce any dizziness, and if that will not pass off. You will get 
into a physiological argument then. 

The Chairman. What would you recommend, after your study upon 
this subject, as to a national law? What provision can be made to 
regulate the sale of these extracts, so that the consumer will know 
pretty much what he is getting? 

Answer. I think that standards should be fixed not only for purity 
but for strength, through solutions of substances the strength of 
which can be readily determined, to a large degree. The law should 
regulate the strength as well as the purity. 

The Chairman. Have you ever considered the proposition made 
by a witness the other day who said that instead of stamping our 
adulterated foods the Government should have a system whereby an 
honest manufacturer could procure a Government stamp? 

Answer. I have to consider that very frequently. The honest man- 
ufacturers, who are enthusiastic and energetic, think it is a strange 
thing if the State government can not guarantee and authorize the 
use of its name upon the pure-food products of the State. We think 
it is not desirable. We think food products generally should be pure, 
and that any manufacturer who was producing food products should 
make them pure, and if he adulterates them, then it is time for the 
law to step in. We don't think there is any more occasion for that 
than there would be to investigate men that were not under suspicion. 



132 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. You think that the adulterated food should be the 
exception, and not the pure food? 

Answer. I do. I think the law ought to step in and attend to that, 
regulate their sale rather than the sale of pure products. It is not 
the object, as I understand these laws, to permit, in any way, any 
department of the Government to be used for the commercial advan- 
tage of any one or more firms, and as soon as we would do that we 
would be going out of our province, which is simply to protect the 
public. 

The Chairman. There is a double purpose, I think, in the law. 
Professor, isn't there? To give an honest manufacturer an even show 
in the transaction of his business, and not permit a man who is deceiv- 
ing the public to have any unfair commercial advantage? 

Answer. That is surely so, but it comes about in a secondary way. 
That is right, as we first 

The Chairman. That is one of the effects, and not the real reason 
of the law? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. The direct object of the law should be to punish 
or prohibit the dishonest manufacturer? 

Answer. That is the way I look at it. 

Senator Harris. But incidentally the honest manufacturer is bene- 
fited? 

Answer. That is as I look at it. 

Senator Harris. Do you think of any other food product which you 
would like to speak about this afternoon? 

Answer. I do not. We have been pretty well over the ground of 
most of these products — jellies, and similar substances. There has been 
one case in Milwaukee where they have sold an acid which was dele- 
terious to health, undoubtedly, in the manufacture of jelly from the 
apple cores and parings. 

Senator Harris. Before we leave the extract question, I want to ask 
you the question whether or not these artificial food products are 
largely used in your State? 

Answer. Why, there are large numbers or varieties of them on the 
market, but there is very little demand for them. They stay on the 
shelves for years, according to our inspectors' stories. 

Senator IIarris. Have you ever had occasion to examine these fruit 
sirups used at soda fountains? 

Answer. Yes, sir; that is a different matter. 

Senator Harris. How are they made? 

Answer. Well, they are made with a mixture of various chemical 
ethers, and those are mixed with sirup, producing these fiavors. They 
are colored generally. They are artificial. They are not made from 
the fruit except in a few instances. 

Senator Harris. Does your State law control that. Professor? 

Answer. It does if they are injurious, but we have ruled a little 
peculiarly on it, perhaps. We have tried always to rule liberally, 
and close in when we have found it necessary. We have ruled that 
where a fruit flavor could be made from the substance itself, as from 
the lemon, the oil of lemon, or where it could be made directly from 
the substance, as vanilla, we would not permit the artificial. But 
where ai-tificial flavors only were to be obtained — for instance, like 
strawberry, banana, or pineapple — where there can not be commer- 
cially an extract made from those substances which will produce the 
characteristic flavor or aroma of it, there we have permitted the sale 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 133 

of the artificial, but we have not permitted the sale of the artificial 
where the genuine can be obtained or made. 

Senator Harris. Can raspberry juice be used in a soda fountain? 

Answer. Pure raspberry juice can be used. 

Senator Harris. Do you permit raspberry flavor to be sold? 

Answer. We permit raspberry artificial flavor to be sold as an 
extract or flavor. Another thing, we have not gone into the soda- 
water work nor candy work as we perhaps should and will later. 
We have taken up first the necessaries of life, the foods, and we 
have not worked into the luxuries, or the liquors, or the outlying 
branches. We are doing fundamental work and have at present our 
hands full. 

Senator Harris. Is there any way to get the extract from the 
banana? 

Answer. No, sir; not to my knowledge. 

Senator Harris. What is this that is sold for banana flavor? 

Answer. Well, it is a mixture of acetic ether, I think, and similar 
ethers. I don't know the exact composition of it, and I think the 
formula varies with various manufacturers, but acetic ether is the 
basis of it, and butyric ether; that and acetic ether and amyl-acetate, 
possibly. 

Senator Harris. You were saying that there was a case where they 
had used acids in jellies that in your opinion were deleterious to 
health? 

Answer. Yes, sir; there was one maker that used small amounts 
of sulphuric acid, which remains in his flnished jelly, and we stopped 
him, and he was willing to stop and change his methods. He was a 
Milwaukee manufacturer. 

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W. SMITH. 

George W. Smith, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman : 

Q. State your name, please. — A. George W. Smith. 

The Chairman. Your residence? 

Answer. Jefferson Park, Chicago. 

The Chairman. You are in the flour business? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. How.long have you been in the flour business, Mr. 
Smith? 

Answer. Twenty-nine years. 

The Chairman. Are you familiar with the mixing of flours such as 
have been sold here? 

Answer. Somewhat; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is the common mixture taken for pancake 
flours, for instance? When you were dealing, did you deal alone in 
just wheat flour? 

Answer. No; all kinds, everything. 

The Chairman. One of the things I want to ask you about is tlie 
manner — I suppose you are aware of the fact that there has been a 
pure-food bill passed that prohibits the sale of anything for wheat 
flour that is not wheat flour. You know that fact, I presume? 

Answer. Certainly. 

The Chairman. Do you know the operation of the law, as to 
whether it has been beneficial or not? 



134 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I want to ask you about the mixing of pancake 
flours? 

Answer. Well, they are all mixed. 

The Chairman. Can you, as a rule, or can a customer, as a rule, 
buy buckwheat flour? 

Answer. How? 

The Chairman. Could I, as a customer, go down to a store and ask, 
for instance, for 40 pounds of buckwheat flour? What do I get for 
buckwheat flour? 

Answer. If you ask for pure buckwheat, you can get it. 

The Chairman. How is it mixed? With what is it mixed? 

Answer. Why, it is mixed with a low grade of spring-wheat flour. 

The Chairman. About what percentage is buckwheat? 

Answer. For instance, when buckwheat comes in here as it will in 
October — that is the season — it will be worth $6 a barrel. 

The Chairman. Before it is ground? 

Answer. No; ground. 

The Chairman. Ground buckwheat flour? 

Answer. Ground buckwheat flour. Then the dealer, the man that 
buys it, the wholesaler, he will buy a flour that is worth about $1.75, 
and he will use two barrels of that $1.75 flour to one barrel of buck- 
wheat. 

The Chairman. Is it still marked buckwheat flour? 

Answer. It is still marked buckwheat flour. 

The Chairman. In the use of buckwheat, have you ever had occa- 
sion to sell what is known as buckwheat shorts, or bran? 

Answer. Lots of it. 

The Chairman. For what purpose is that used? 

Answer. It is used by spice mills and some of these large manufac- 
turers. They grind it and mix it with their pej)per. Buckwheat bran 
is used for black pepper and not white pepper, because buckwheat 
bran is black. The professor stated that it was used for white, but it 
is not used for white. 

The Chairman. I suppose the buckwheat hull 

Answer. The buckwheat hull is black ; but they use any kind of 
wheat bran, either winter or summer, for white pepper. 

The Chairman. The question has been raised as to the adulteration 
of sugar. You are not a chemist? 

Answer. No; I am not a chemist. 

The Chairman. You have been in this flour and grocery business 
all these years ; do you know anything, from hearsay or by reputa- 
tion, as to the adulteration of sugar? 

Answer. I do. 

The Chairman. What is your information on that subject? Take 
pulverized sugar, for instance. 

Answer. That is the only one I can speak about — what we call pow- 
dered sugar. From what I know of it, and have heard in the grocery 
business from retailers, and from my own personal knowledge by using, 
I never found any of it that was pure. 

The Chairman. What is it adulterated with? 

Answer. It is adulterated with cornstarch, because cornstarch is 
about the same color and they grind it just as fine. 

The Chairman. They can mix it easily? 

Answer. It mixes. 

The witness was here withdrawn f I'om the stand temporarily. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 135 



STATEMENT OF AUGUSTINE GALj^AGHER. 

Augustine Gallagher, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman, What is your name? 

Answer. Augustine Gallagher. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Answer. I am in the publishing business. 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Answer. St. Louis. 

The Chairman. What paper do you publish? 

Answer. The Modern Miller. 

The Chairman. How long have you been the editor of that paper? 

Answer. About seven years. 

The Chairman. Did j^ou take an interest in the bill known as the 
"pure-flour bill," which was passed by the Fifty-fifth Congress? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I represented the millers in Washington. 

The Chairman. And after that did you take a position under the 
Government? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I was Government revenue agent; in charge of 
the enforcement of that act. 

The Chairman. Are you now employed there? 

Answer. No, sir. My resignation took effect on the 31st of March. 

The Chairman. During the time that you were there, up to the 
time that you resigned, just state briefly to the committee the work 
that was done under what was known as the pure-food bill. 

Answer. Well, we went pretty well over the whole field and the 
wholesale and retail flour field of the country seeking 

The Chairman. Before that time, state briefly what the adultera- 
tions were that were used. 

Answer. The principal adulterant used was starch, cornstarch, 
made by the glucose mills; and there was another adulterant, known 
as corn flour, made by the corn mills — that is, a mill that would make 
meal, and grist, and various other j^roducts, a certain percentage of 
its product would be corn flour. It was used in some places, quite a 
number of places. Very frequently j^ou would find a mill equipped 
to make corn and wheat flour, and they did a very nice business in 
the mixing of the two; but I think the latter years, before the enact- 
ment of June 13, the principal adulterant used was cornstarch, a 
product of the glucose mills. There was in a few Instances a dis- 
covery of barytes. 

The Chairman. That is a sort of stone, isn't it? 

Answer. Yes, sir ; that is a chalky substance found down in Georgia 
and Tennessee. 

The Chairman. And mineraline? 

Answer. That is a substance of the same character. 
The Chairman. Ground clay? 

Answer. Yes, sir. That was not used much. That was nipped almost 
in the infancy of its introduction. In investigating this matter, pre- 
paratory to bringing it to the attention of Congress, I discovered 
down in Georgia that the product had actually been moved from point 
to point as a commodity, by freight; but it did not come into general 
use. I don't think it got out of a radius of a couple of hundred miles 
down in that territory where it was produced. 



136 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Since the time of the enactment, up to the time the 
recognition went into eflfect, you had charge of that department under 
the internal-revenue law? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What has been the effect of it, in your opinion — 
3'ou are not now employed by the Government — what has been the 
effect of it, in your opinion, so far as stopping the adulteration of 
wheat flour is concerned? 

Answer. It has stopped it. 

The Chairman. Have there been any seizures of improperlj^ mixed 
flour under the law? 

Answer. Yes, sir; quite a large number; but they were all under 
what was known in the revenue service as section 49, which provided 
that mixed flour, not properly branded, tax paid, found on the prem- 
ises of certain people described, was subject to compliance with the 
law or seizure. 

The Chairman. What effect has it had on the exporting of flour to 
other countries? 

Answer. Well, our trade has been running along this year at about 
20 per cent increase; at times larger and at times a little smaller. I 
think we will export several million barrels more flour this year than 
we ever have in the history of the country. 

The Chairman. Do you attribute that somewhat to the fact that the 
Government has taken hold of this matter? 

Answer, Very largely. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestion to make as to applying a 
general national food law to cover other food products besides flour^ 

Answer, Yes, sir; I would, from what I have seen and my investi- 
gations and work in this field — I would be very much in favor of a law 
that would cover every food, condiment, drink, and drug that is 
offered for sale for human consumption. There is no reason why 
people should be permitted to be dishonest in matters of that sort. 
You asked Mr. Smith a while ago to describe what they made pan- 
cake flour out of. He got off, however, and I thought I would remind 
him of it, if you had some reason for knowing that. I don't want to 
take the question away from Mr. Smith, though. 

The Chairman. Go ahead. 

The Witness. A great many of the pancake flours now are made — 
the basis of them is cornstarch or corn flour. 

The Chairman. Will you state the difference between cornstarch 
and corn flour? 

Answer. Corn flour is made by a direct milling process — the dry 
process — and cornstarch is made by a process of milling which — you 
remember we went through that pretty well before your committee 
during the session of Congress. They use an acid treatment to sep- 
arate the starch cells. That process, I believe, was pretty fully 
described by a representative of the Glucose Sugar Refining Company, 
of this city, and by other representatives to your committee and 
before the Ways and Means Committee, and it is set out in extenso 
in the report of the Waj'S and Means Committee. It is quite a long 
process, and not being a practical glucose miller I would not be as 
well able to describe it as some have done. 

The Chairman. Now, when you say corn flour, that is really corn 
meal ground finer? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. They grind it finer and call it flour? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 137 

Answer, Yes, sir; pulverize it. 

The Chairman. And if it is white corn it makes white corn flour? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. If it is yellow corn, it carries its color even after it 
is groundV 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You have described that. What is this flourine? 

Answer. That is gluten — that is, cornstarch. 

The Chairman. Is that flourine after the gluten and the sugar has 
been extracted from it? 

Answer. That is what I would not be sure about. I would rather 
refer you to the records which have been made on that than to under- 
take to state it, because I do not know the process exactly. My opin- 
ion is that they make the starch flrst, and then the other products are 
products of the starch. 

The Chairman. In this starch that is used in this flour — cornstarch 
that is used as a basis for pancake flour — as a matter of fact, is the 
sugar and the gluten extracted? 

The Witness. From the starch? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Answer, That is the information given by the people who carry on 
that business; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You were going on, when I interrupted you, to 
describe pancake flours, I suppose there are different varieties of 
them? 

Answer. Yes, sir. Some people put rice in them, but they all use 
soda and salt and tartaric acid for leavening purposes. They add to 
the wheat flour the cornstarch or the corn flour, and then add these 
leavening qualities, and that produces the pancake flour. 

Mr. G. A. Hires. Is there anything injurious about the pancake 
flour you have just described, do you think? Do you think there is 
anything injurious about it? 

Answer. That is a question. In going into that matter pretty thor- 
oughly before the Ways and Means Committee of Congress, there was 
considerable evidence introduced there to show that there was yet 
remaining in starch free sulphuric acid. 

The Chairman, You are not a chemist, are you? 

Answer, No, sir; I am not. 

The Chairman, You don't know what tartaric acid is made from? 

Answer. No, sir; I merely referred to the record as made by Dr. 
Koler and some of the others on the committee, I did not go into 
that at all. 

STATEMENT OF C. Y. KNIGHT. 

C. Y. Knight, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

Q. State your name, residence, and occupation. — A. My name is 
C, Y. Knight, I live in Chicago, and am the publisher of a dairy 
paper, and am secretary of both the National and Illinois Dairy Unions, 

Q, What is your paper that you publish here? — A, It is the Chicago 
Dairy Produce paper, 

Q. In your official capacity, as connected with the State and na- 
tional boards, have you had occasion to investigate the question of 
the sale of oleomargarine? — A. I have done little else during the last 
four years but investigate it. 



138 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You have given that your attention specially? 

Answer. Pretty nearly all my time during the last two years has 
been spent in that direction. 

The Chairman. The committee would like to have you state whether 
you have any suggestions to that law. First, have you any amend- 
ment to suggest to the law as it is? 

Answer. Well, that depends, of course, as to how far Congress can 
go in legislating in that way. We have given that subject a great deal 
of attention, and spent a good deal of money in looking up the con- 
stituti Dnality of different kinds of laws ; have traced that class of legis- 
lation in Congress, and all constitutional i)oints regarding it, clear 
back as far as we could get them. 

The Chairman. In other words, one of the questions is how far you 
can go into the matter of police regulations? 

The Witness. As to what the Government can do in the shape of 
police regulations. We are at j)resent raising, and have nearly raised, 
a fund of 110,000 for the purpose of organizing and getting things in 
shape to go before Congress to ask for an amendment to that law. I 
have got $7,000 of it in the bank already, and it is coming in at the 
rate of $100 a week, so we will be down there all right. We have come 
to the conclusion that the only thing that can be done is through the 
Internal-Revenue Department. We have gone back until we have 
struck decisions in the Supreme Court thirty years ago, where they 
have turned down a law made by Congress regulating the mixture of 
naphtha and petroleum as unconstitutional, because it was interfering 
with the police powers of the State, and we have struck all of those 
decisions. In fact, we have had what would be called in the Patent 
Ofl&ce a validity search in the laws, in that respect, by different attor- 
neys, and can enlighten you probably a little bit 

The Chairman. I am interested on that question, because it may 
save us a little time in looking up the law. Your counsel seem to be 
of the opinion, as I understand you, that the police regulation of this 
matter within the States is not within the constitutional power of 
Congress? 

Answer. That was decided in a case some thirty years ago, I think, 
in Michigan, directly by the Supreme Court of the IJnited States, and 
I have the decision, which I could show you in a few minutes. 

The Chairman. The Supreme Court decided that where it was put 
formerly, even though formerly under the internal-revenue law, as in 
the case of oleomargarine, filled cheese, and, as now, in the case of 
pure flour, the Supreme Court has held, as I remember it, that it could 
be regulated when an attempt was made to raise the revenue for the 
Government. 

The Witness. The Supreme Court took this view in that Michigan 
case. The case came up in Michigan. There was a tax on petro- 
leum — I have forgotten how many years ago — and the internal-reve- 
nue law which put that tax on petroleum made certain regulations 
regarding the mixing of iDctroleum and naphtha. The excuse, I 
believe, which was given for the controlling of that mixture was for 
the protection of the gangers. Congress repealed the tax on petro- 
leum, but left the law standing regarding mixing. It was brought to 
the test in the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court decided that 
inasmuch as the tax part had been repealed, that the other had no 
standing; that so long as it was a regulation for the protection of 
those engaged in the collection of the internal revenue in any wa}^ it 
was valid; but when the internal-revenue clause had been taken 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 139 

away, that it was interfering with the police powers of the State and 
was the proper thing for the State to do. 

The Chairman. But that the Government had a perfect right to 
tax any of these products, and if protection came as an incident to 
revenue it was all right? 

The Witness. And in his message to Congress, in signing the oleo- 
margarine bill thirteen years ago, the President went into that mat- 
ter. " He stated the fact that there were instances — I don't know that 
he cited them, but he stated that this was not the first instance where 
taxation was merely a vehicle for accomplishing other purposes when 
he signed that oleomargarine law. 

The Chairman. As a matter of fact, the oleomargarine law and the 
flour law and the cheese law do not produce any more than barely 
enough revenue for the extra expense of collecting. 

The Witness. Oh, yes, indeed ; the oleomargarine law does. 

Tlie Chairman. I guess you are right about that. 

The Witness. The others do not. 

The Chairman. But even it did not, yet under that decision the law 
would stand, because it is in the line of cases suggested by the Presi- 
dent, where the revenue law had simply been a vehicle to get relief 
where it could not be given in any other way. 

The Witness. In the matter of taxation 

The Chairman. You believe that there should be some national 
pure-food legislation? 

Answer. Oh, indeed, I think so. We have enacted by laws in 
thirty-three States what we call an anticolor law. In spite of the 
enactment of those laws in thirty-three out of the forty-five States in 
the Union, in the face of all of that State legislation, the production 
of oleomargarine in defiance of those laws has doubled in the last 
year. That is simply for the reason that the material or the article 
is of such a deceptive character that it is absolutely impossible after 
it leaves the hand of the manufacturer in that shape to keep track of 
it in any way. The internal-revenue law, or the law of 1883, has been 
a good check on that. At the same time it has even got away with 
the Government in that respect. It is only two months ago that in 
Philadelphia they made a raid among the retailers and found a hun- 
dred dealers selling oleomargarine without a license. There is an 
instance of where the Government is actually losing revenue through 
the lack of identity of that article. I will give you an instance of the 
way the law is observed in this State here. This morning I went out 
and went to a few stores and called for creamery butter. The pack- 
ages that I got I have not opened, I brought them up here for you 
to open. Here is what I have. [Producing several packages. ] If some 
disinterested party will open them up and show them to the com- 
mittee, I will be obliged to him. 

The Chairman. Dr. Wiley is the Government expert, and he is 
here. 

(By direction of the chairman. Chief Chemist Wiley opened the 
packages referred to. ) 

The Witness (addressing Chief Chemist Wiley). Look the papers 
over carefully, Doctor ; look the wrappers over carefully. The internal- 
revenue law requires that they shall be stamped, and the provision is 
very plain. That man [referring to the seller of one of the packages] 
has not stamped it. I know this is oleomargarine, because I saw it 
taken out of a box on which the stamp license was at the end. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. This was sold for creamery butter? 



140 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Witness. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. The package here is not marked. 

The Witness. That has no mark upon it at all. Those oleomar- 
garine packages are peculiar. 

The Chairman. You say you saw it taken out? 

Answer. Yes, sir; out of the oleomargarine box, 

(The package referred to was marked on its wrapper "Exhibit 1, 
May 9, 1899, G. G. T.") 

The Chairman. You saw this particular one taken out from the 
oleomargarine box? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Did you put any mark on it so that you could 
remember? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I had it marked here [indicating a private mark 
of the witness on the package]. 

(The witness here presented a second package with the corner of the 
wrapper turned down and out of sight.) 

The Chairman. As I understand, the law requires that each pack- 
age be marked. The first package which you opened and which you 
state under oath you saw taken from an oleomargarine box upon 
examination shows that there is no stamp of any kind upon it. 

The Witness. No stamp of any kind upon it. 

(The second package last above referred to was marked ' ' Exhibit 
2 May 9, 1899, for identification, G. G. T.") 

The Chairman. The one which we have marked "Exhibit 2, May 
9, 1899," and which you say you received 

The Witness. I have marked the price on the outside: "Bought 
for creamery butter; paid 18 cts." 

The Chairman. Paid 18 cents for it. Was that taken from the oleo- 
margarine box? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That one shows a concealed mark, ' ' Oleomargarine," 
but folded in such a way that it would never be detected unless search 
was made for it. Sample No. 3, which I ask the official stenographer 
to mark as Exhibit No. 3, what did you ask for in this case? 

Answer. Creamery butter in every case. 

(The sample referred to was marked by the official stenographer 
"Exhibit 3, May 9, 1899, for identification, G. G. T.") 

The Chairman. Did you see this Exhibit No. 3? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw every one of them. 

The Chairman. Where was this taken from? 

Answer. It was taken from the oleomargarine box. 

The Chairman. I ask you to examine the paper and see if you can 
find the word "oleomargarine," as provided by law? 

Answer. I find it back there, turned under. 

The Chairman. It is marked oleomargarine, but concealed so that 
you would not naturally find it? 

Answer. Yes, sir ; there is a ruling on that subject given b}^ Congress, 
by the Internal Revenue Department, regulating those things. 

The Chairman. That is the third exhibit. [Addressing Dr. Wiley. ] 
Dr. Wiley, will you undo the fourth exhibit? 

(Dr. Wiley did so.) 

The Witness. Those I took just as I came to them. I did not select 
the place, but just as I found the butter stores, and there are 1,700 of 
them in town, or in the northern district. 

The Chairman. The half-pound oleomargarine law is what covers 
this? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 141 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It says: (The chairman here read the section of 
the oleomargarine law relating to half-pound packages. ) 

The Chairman. I now call attention to sample No. 4, on which the 
word "oleomargarine" is printed on the inside of the package. Did 
you ask for creamery butter in that case? 

Answer. Yes, sir; in every instance I asked for creamery butter. 

The Chairman. How much did you pay for it? 

Answer. It is marked on the outside, I think. The wholesale price 
of butter at Elgin was 16 cents; I paid 18 and 20 cents for those arti- 
cles. Eighteen cents is what I paid for them. 

(The fourth exhibit was marked " For identification ; Exhibit No. 4; 
May 9, 1899; G. G. Taylor"). 

The Chairman. These packages you say you did not open until 
you brought them here? 

Answer. No, sir; the last one I bought just as I came up here. I 
can send any gentleman to any store around and he may ask for butter 
and he will get the same thing. 

Senator Harris. Mr. Knight, this exhibit has no relevancy to any 
proposed change in the law. It is merely an illustration of how the 
law is avoided and not complied with. 

The Witness. Well, no. Senator. The statistics I have here I think 
will support the theory or idea which I would suggest, and that is that 
there is absolutely no way to compel the selling of oleomargarine as 
such so long as it is permitted to be colored in imitation of butter. 
Here is a map, Senator [presenting same and handing to Senator 
Harris] , the shaded States of which are the States which have enacted 
those laws; and in spite of the enactment of all those laws prohibit- 
ing the coloring of oleomargarine to resemble butter, the production 
of oleomargarine and the output and sale of oleomargarine during the 
last year has doubled over that of the previous year, because of the 
fact that the sale was being pushed and the dealers are being protected 
by the manufacturers. 

Senator Harris. You would admit that there would be a probability 
of increased production and sale of oleomargarine, even with the law 
fully carried out and on its own merits? 

Answer. It is not sold on its own merits. 

Senator Harris. I know ; but even if that were the case you would 
admit there would be some increase in the production and sale of 
oleomargarine, wouldn't you? 

Answer. It is sold in the States where it is illegal to sell it. 

Senator Harris. But if colored to imitate butter? 

Answer. But it is not sold any other way. There is no such thing 
as selling uncolored oleomargarine. Nobody ever saw it except in a 
few places where it has been experimented with, and the people would 
not consume it where they knew it was oleomargarine. There is no 
such thing as uncolored oleomargarine. 

Senator Harris. Is there any such thing as uncolored butter? 

The Witness. Why, in the flush of the season there is very little, 
if any, coloring matter used in butter. 

Senator Harris. But take it in the winter time? 

Answer. No, sir. I think that almost universally butter is colored 
in the winter time. 

Senator Harris. What is the distinction in moral turpitude between 
the man who takes oleomargarine to sell it as butter and the man 
who colors bad butter and colors it to imitate and deceive the pur- 
chaser with the idea that he is getting good butter? 



142 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. Well, bad butter and good butter have no distinction in 
color. You can not tell bad butter from good butter at all. 

Senator HARRIS. There are certain seasons in the year when the 
butter is inferior in flavor and also in color? 

Answer. You mean in the winter? 

Senator Harris. In the winter. 

Answer. People in the winter time do not go around looking for 
butter that has been produced in the summer in order to get a supe- 
rior grade of butter. Consequently they are not deceived into think- 
ing they are getting summer butter. 

Senator Harris. It is colored to make it more attractive? 

Answer. It is colored for uniformity. We would care nothing at 
all about the color of butter if we could have it the same the year 
round. If butter had the advantage that oleomargarine has by having 
a uniform color, the raw material, so that it would be of uniform color 
the year round, there would be no necessity and we would not care a 
cent whether it was white or what color it was. 

Senator Harris. You think there is a prejudice against the white 
color? 

Answer. Not at all, sir; if people are brought to the custom. In 
England they want butter as white as they can get it. 

Senator Harris. When you talk about ' ' if people are brought up 
to " such and such a thing, if people were brought up to use oleo- 
margarine they would not object to it, I suppose? 

Answer. If oleomargarine were to go on its merits for a few months, 
or a year or so, being white, it would get its legitimate use then. 
People would learn that it was and consume it as oleomargarine. 

Senator Harris. My point simply is this: Ought it not to be pro- 
hibited in every case? It is a deception. 

Answer. I do not think it is a deception at all in butter. I do not 
see where it is. It does not conceal the quality at all. Yellow butter 
is no better to the taste than white butter ; not the slightest bit. There 
is no difference between them. It is as easy to digest as yellow. 
There is no difference in the quality of the butter on account of the 
color. 

Senator Harris. It is done solely for the sake of uniformity? 

Answer. Solely for the sake of uniformity. 

Senator Harris. That is, a man will take the trouble to color his 
butter in the winter, because he produces yellow butter in the summer, 
and not because the customer prefers yellow butter? 

Answer. Because a man the year round is eating butter, he does not 
want it white one time and yellow another. He does not want to buy 
butter one day that has come from some cow that has been fed with 
feed which makes the butter yellow and the next day get it white. 
He does not want white butter on his table one day and yellow the 
next. He wants uniformity. Fruit is packed with a view to uni- 
formity. Oranges of a certain size are packed in boxes with others 
of that size. You could not sell the orange if there was a small orange 
here and a big one there. They want everything uniform. Our idea 
of life nowadays is uniformity. We want uniformity in architecture 
and in everything. If butter was white, we would not be making 
oleomargarine yellow. 

Senator Harris. I thought the conformity in architecture was 
considered rather monotonous and disagreeable. 

The Witness. We want symmetry or something of that kind. 

Senator Harris. And it is purely for an aesthetic reason that we 
want butter colored? 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 143 

Answer. It is a matter of business. 

Senator Harris. A matter of business? 

Answer. Yes, sir; business, from the standpoint of uniformity; 
that is all. 

Senator Harris. Well, business; I think that covers it. It is a 
matier of increased profit? 

Answer. No, sir; I do not think so; I do not think so. If we ship 
butter to England, it must be just as white as we possibj^ can get it. 

Senator Harris. There maj^ be a market in one case, and you gov- 
ern the production of the stuff on the market, and you in this manner, 
where yellow butter is desired — you use artificial means to produce the 
yellow color? 

Answer. We will use artificial means to produce a uniformity which 
deceives no one. Nobody thinks butter is better because it is yellow. 

Senator Harris. Unquestionably, if the market generally — you 
say in England they demand it. It may be a mere fancy, but it has 
a practical value in the market? 

Answer. It is of value only to customers. 

Senator Harris. It does not make any difference how it ariseo, you 
respond to the demand? 

Answer. We respond to the demand. 

Senator Harris. By artificial coloring? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. As I say, I can not exactly see how you could 
draw the distinction you made in the one case from the other. 

Answer. Maybe I can read you a little extract from a letter that 
will show 3^ou why we do. Here is one from William J. Moxley, the 
butter maker, manufacturer of butterine, Chicago. He says: 

Inclosed find a color card, which is as near the color of our butterine as the 
printer's art can represent. Our aim in sending you this card is to aid you in 
selecting the proper colors suitable to your trade. Mistakes are easily made, but 
sometimes hard to remedy. In nearly every section of the country there is a dif- 
ference in the color of butter, and even in certain seasons of the year there is a 
change, as you will have noticed. In winter butter is of a lighter color than in 
summer. In many sections this is the result of difference in feed or pasture. 

We can give you jvist what you want at all seasons, if we know your require- 
ments. 

If butter is light in that section, they must buy light oleomargarine 
to make the people think they are getting butter. If butter is required 
to be yellow in that section, they will give him yellow oleomargarine. 
He sends that color card so they can tell what kind of oleomargarine 
they want, so that it can be sold as butter and people will think it is 
butter, because it is the practice in that country to have a certain kind 
of butter. 

Senator Harris. In the production of natural butter you mentioned 
a while ago that the feed had quite an effect. 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. One farmer or dairyman, by the use of certain 
kinds of feed, even in the winter time, can produce butter of a better 
color than a farmer who uses an inferior class of feed? 

Answer. I would not say inferior — different. 

Senator Harris. Well, different. I believe that slop-fed cattle or 
swill-fed cattle do not produce butter of a very good color, do they? 

Answer. Well, I don't know what effect swill has on the color, I am 
sure. 

Senator Harris. As a practical butter man, haven't you observed 
the differences in butter of a swill-fed cow and 



144 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. "When it comes down, Senator Harris, to the question of 
different feeds on cattle, I can not go into that, because my experience 
is in the production of l3utter instead of milk. 

Senator Harris. My experience is in the feeding. Now, a great deal 
has been said all through this discussion about the protection of the 
honest and skilled manufacturer of pure foods. You believe that he 
should be protected and should not be injured by an imitation pro- 
ceeding from an inferior or a more careless manufacturer? 

Answer. That is right, sir. 

Senator HARRIS. Now, the skilled feeder of cows and the producer 
of butter can, even in the winter time, produce well-colored butter. 

The Witness. But it is not better. 

Senator Harris. That is not the point I am getting at. It is more 
attractive and sells at a better price. 

The Witness. What difference does it make — go on. 

Senator Harris. That is the proposition which the purchaser must 
answer. You know as a fact that it sells for a better price, do you 
not? 

Answer. I do not; no, sir. 

Senator Harris. You say there is a demand for yellow butter? 

Answer. That is all right, sir. 

Senator Harris. What responds to the demand gets a better price 
than that which does not respond to it, I suppose? 

The Witness. There is a demand for white butter, and it costs 2 or 
3 cents a pound to bleach it. 

Senator Harris. Then you simply would not color it yellow if there 
was a demand for white butter? 

Answer. No, sir. 

Senator Harris. It would not be anj^ better? 

Answer. No; surely not. 

Senator Harris. But you would respond to the demand, whatever 
it might be? 

Answer. We would respond to the demand so long as it was not 
imitating something else. 

Senator Harris. It is imitating the butter which is most desirable. 

The Witness. I can not agree with you. I see a good many hun 
dreds of thousands of dollars' worth of butter sold, and 

Senator Harris. I think there is something to be said in favor of 
the man who, by better feeding, by keeping a better quality of ha}^ — 
I believe even different qualities of hay will effect the coloring. 

The Witness. Carrots are better than hay. 

Senator Harris. But I am taking the simplest form of feed. Of 
course, you can color it by the use of carrots. Why should not he say 
that he is entitled to protection against the man who makes butter the 
color of lard? 

Answer. Some Jersey feeders — you are talking like a good many 
Jersey men do, who would exclude the color from butter, so that the 
Jersey butter could sell at a higher price. If I had not heard you say 
you were a raiser of shorthorns I should think you kept Jerseys. 

Senator Harris. If there is anything that I don't want on my place it 
is a Jersey cow; but why should not the Jersey man claim the right 
to sell without infringement by anybody else, by an artificial process, 
the legitimate products of his cattle? 

Answer. Because his butter is butter, and the foundation is oil. 

Senator Harris. The foundation of oleomargarine is oil. 

The Witness. It is a different kind of oil, while butter fat is the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 145 

same kind of oil, lias the same digestive capacitj^, and lias the same 
flavor, so far as that is concerned, and is mildest at the same tempera- 
ture. Butter fat is butter fat, and it does not matter whether it comes 
from the Jersej-s and is accompanied hy the jiigment that colors it 
yellow or whether it comes from an Alderney or some other kind of 
cow that gives white butter. It is butter fat just the same, and the 
coloring does not make any more difference to it than the color of an 
apple does, a^ to whether it is a white or red apple, in the eating. 

Senator IIarris. And it is only done for the sake of uniformity? 

Answer. Only done for the sake of uniformity. You may say that 
uniformity is to please the eye. 

Senator Harris. I think it has some practical reason underlying it. 
This large sum of money that you speak of having raised is to be 
directed toward changing the law with regard to this question 

Answer. Agitation of the question and letting the people know that 
we are going liefore Congress to endeavor to get the laws which we 
now have in the State, which have four-fifths, nearly five-sixths I 
might say, of the population, to get theiu^ 

Senator Harris. On the point of colorV 

Answer. Yes, sir; and that is the matter we iire looking into now 
and concerning which we are searching the records, and, as I said 
before, making a validity search to determine which way we can go. 
We are mapping out the road. v 

Senator Harris. There has been considerable said about the artifi- 
cial coloring of jellies and of flavoring extracts and other things. 
Those are generally condemned^ 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. The point of your efforts is practically to bring 
about the exclusive privilege on the part of dairymen to color their 
butter? 

Answer. Senator Harris, we are not asking anything that the Su- 
preme Court of the United States and the supreme court of every 
State has not told us that we have. That is a matter that has been 
passed upon by the Supreme Court of the United States twice in our 
favor, that it is a deception to color some other kind of compound to 
resemble — it is not a matter of importance in this case of how butter 
is colored yellow; it is a matter of distinction, just as much as a dis- 
tinction is had in all laws in all States practically prohibiting you 
from wearing your wife's dress out on the street and passing as a 
woman. There is the distinction. We have a dress of our own that 
we have been known in a good many years, and it does not matter 
how that dress is made; that is our dress, and we are known in it. 

Senator Harris. I am simply taking the point between the man 
who can make yellow butter in the winter time and the man that 
makes butter-colored lard in the winter time. As between those two 
your method of coloring injures the butter purchaser. 

Answer. I will say this, that it may be possible, under the decisions 
of the Supreme Court, if the man who makes that j-ellow butter comes 
forward and is strong enough to get that kind of a law it will be 
sustained. 

Senator Harris. If he is strong enough? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. It is a case of might makes right? 

Answer. Pretty nearly, in a case of that kind; but inasmuch as he 
has not asked for that law, we are not going out of our way to give 
it to him. 

F p 10 



146 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. Nft; I don't think yon are altogether jihilanthropic 
here. 

The Witness. No; I don't think we are l)nilt on that ])\an alto- 
gether. 

The Chairman. I understand yonr position to be that the coloring 
of oleomargarine assists oleomargarine in l^eing sold for what it is 
not? 

Answer. It makes it entirely. 

The Chairman. And that the coloring of butter simx)ly — is it sold 
as butter? 

Answ^er. It is not sold for anj^thing else than butter. 

Senator Harris. You do know of white butter and 3 ellow butter? 

Answer. No, w^e don't; because we make it all yellow. 

The Chairman. If you don't do it with the feed, you do it when 
you churn? 

Senator Harris. It is done for an aesthetic purpose? 

Answer. Entirely. Here is a letter from another manufacturer. 
(The witness here read circular letters from Braun & Fittz and Wil- 
liam J. Moxley to different dealers, copies of which letters are hereto 
attached and marked, jespectivel}^ Exhibits 1 to 5 ; and also the shaded 
map referred to in the testimony of the witness, showing the States 
in the Union which have laws forbidding the sale and manufacture of 
oleomargarine coloi-ed to resemble buttgr, which map is marked 
' ' Exhibit 6 " to the testimony of this witness. ) 

Senator Harris. Have you any circular there from the manufac- 
turers of coloring matter which is used in butter? 

Answer. No, sir; they do not have to have circulars. 

Senator Harris. I have seen various advertisements of colorings to 
be used in pure butter, in whicli it was claimed that you would get a 
higher price and that it would make your butter look fresh and better. 

The Witness. Some coloring matter will fade. During the time 
tliat it is put in — you will put it in at a certain color and when it is 
taken out or w hen it goes onto the market or is exposed to the light it 
will fade. There is a difference in colors. It is not a matter of get- 
ting a certain color, but of keeping it. 

Senator Harris. Do you mean to say that it is desirable to have a 
good, fast color for butter? 

Answer. Surely. It is desirable to have a uniform and steadfast 
color, a color that will keep its uniformity. 

Adjourned until 10.30 a. m.. May 10, 1899. 

Letter from William J. Moxley, dated October 15, 1898, as follows: 

Exhibit 1. 

Chicago, October 15, 1898, 

FANCY BUTTERINE. 

We still maintain the high standard of quality which has given this house the 
reputation of manufacturing the finest goods in the market and which has secured 
for us the largest output in the United States. 

See our prices: 

Daisy ' solid 8i cents net 

FancyDairy | , _.. solid 10 cents net 

Special Dairy ) '" 

Red Clover - - solid 11 cents net 

Extra Dairy -- ..solid 13 cents net 

Farx^y Creamery solid 14 cents net 

Extra Fancy Creamery solid 1 5 cents net 



ADULTERATION OB^ FOOD PRODUCTS, 147 

One-half and 1-pound rolls and prints, 1 cent extra. Larger rolls and prints, 
also solid packed, in less than 25-pound tubs, one-half cent extra. 

Tr.y "Golden Sheaf,"' "Elgin," and -'Clover Leaf brands in plain wrappers: 
1-pound prints, 11 cents: larger prints, 10^ cents. Or "Crystal Gems" and 
" Daisy Sheaf " in p/a/vi wrappers: 1-pound prints, 94 cents; larger size prints, 9 
cents per pound; packed in cases. 

Pure leaf lard, 51 cents. 

In tierces or large tubs. 

In 20 or 30 pound tubs, 5A cents. 

All goods f. o. b. Chicago. 

Moxley creamery is the best. 

Wm. J. Moxley. 



Exhibit 3. . 

On the letter head of Braun & Fitts, dated March 17, 1899, is the following: 

Station F, Chicago, March 17, 1S99. 

Dear Sir: This is the season when the quality of butter is the very poorest. 
There is a general complaint about "poor butter " in all the markets of the coun- 
try — poor country butter and poor creamery. You don't hear complaints about 
'■'■the only high grade" butterine. You do about cotton-seed oil goods. Now is 
your chance to build up a first-class trade by handling only first-class butterine. 
Eggs are selling at cost, but " the only high grade " will give you profit, so keep 
pushing its sale and build up a reputation for good butter. 

We quote, net f . o. b. Chicago: 

Fancy Dairy (always reliable) per pound 12 

Lakeside (never changing) _ do.__ 12i 

Diamond (sparkling) do. . ^ 13 

Peerless (without a peer) do._- 13i 

Eureka, extra fancy dairy do-_- 14 

Good Luck, fancy creamery _ . . , do . _ _ 15 

Unexcelled, extra fancy creamery ' do . _ 16 

One-pound rolls or prints. 1 cent extra. Larger rolls or prints, also solid packed, 
in less than 25-pouud tubs, one-half cent extra. We make any shape or style 
goods and pack in any way the trade desires. • 

Send us trial order for our '• Holstein," "Klondike," " Union," or " Elgin." put 
up in one-pound prints (^48 in case, or .small cases 30 in case), with printed wrap- 
pers, 13 cents — in two and three pound prints, 12i cents; "Holstein,"' in five-pound 
boxes (12 in case), 13 cents. 

Strictly Pure Leaf Lard, in tierces and large tubs, 5f cents; small tubs, 30 and 
40 pounds, 5-6 cents; 50-pound tins, 2 in a case, 6 cents; 20-pound tins, 4 in a case, 
6i cents; 10-pound tins, 6 in a case, 6^ cents; 5-pbund tins, 12 in a case, 6| cents; 
3-pound tins, 20 in a case, 6f cents. 

Soliciting your orders, we remain, yours truly, 

Braun & Fitts. 

Have you tried our creamery/ 



Exhibit 3. 
On the letter head of William .1. Moxley, the following: 

Chicago, December 10, 1S9S. 
Messrs. A. Kennard & Co., City. 

Dear Sirs: We would again call your attention to the advantages that a grocery- 
man may derive from selling a good grade of butterine, such as can be obtained at 
this establishment. 

The enclosed list will show you that our prices will place you in a position to 
suit the desires of your customers. We can furnish you a grade of goods from 8^ 
cents per pound that will astonish you, while our medium priced, at 10 cents, has 
all the qualities suitable for a good table butter. You will hear no complaints if 
you furnish your customers with our "Special," of which we are the sole manu- 
facturers. (See price list.) 

If you desire to handle the best possible production, you will find it in our 
" Creamery." at 15 cents per pound. It is equal to the finest creamery butter, no 
matter what price you paj' for it. 



148 ADULTj:RATIO]Sr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

A live grocei-yman keeps every article of food that his customers are likely to 
require. In this age of keen competition the man who is short of any one of the 
staples is going to lose trade. People will go where they can be best served. 

When a woman goes to buy groceries, there is one article of goods she must have, 
and that is butter. She may want sugar, coffee, and other articles, but she wants 
butter, and wants it at a price to suit her means. If you can not supply her, don t 
expect her to buy her coffees, teas, and other articles of you, and then go a block 
to another grocery to buy 4 or 5 pounds of " Moxley's Special." If she is a prac- 
tical woman, she will go to the store where all her wants can be supplied. Some 
are deterred from going into the butterine business through having to pay for a 
license. This is a mistaken idea. Ninety-five per cent of the dealers who take 
out a license for one year take it ever after; tlie other 5 per cent fail in business. 
Nothing can save them. 

You are not aware, perhaps, of the perfection of our goods. Let us make this 
proposition to you: Return the inclosed postal with an order for 10 pounds. Being 
manufacturers, we can not sell you less. You can not sell those goods without a 
license, but you can use them in your own household. We are desirous of letting 
you test our goods, feeling confident, after a trial, you will enter into the business, 
which will be to the advantage of yourself and your customers. 
Yours, truly, 

W. J. MOXLEY. 

Dictated by W. G. 



Exhibit 4. 

Another letter on the letter head of William J. Moxley, as follows: 

Chicago, October 22, 1898. 
Messrs. A. H. Barber & Co., City. 

Dear Sirs: As the consumption of butterine has grown to such an enormous 
extent in Chicago, and knowing that you are not handling it, I wish to interest 
you in the advantages you can gain by taking out a license and putting in a stock. 
The people who buy it say it is better than butter and that it is more pleasing to 
the taste and in appearance. These are the reasons it has grown to be such a 
valuable food product. 

Our butterine is made from pure; cleaia, and wholesome articles of food, such as 
are used every day by some one in some way, and the idea that it is not a pure- food 
product and a perfectly legitimate and staple article of food has been changed by its 
own merits. Your profit will be double the amount made from the butter you 
are now handling, and your butter trade trill be more satisfied if you will sell them 
such butterine as you can buy from me. 

Now, as to the annoyance given the dealers last year by the butter trust. I took 
care of my customers, and, as you know, the decision given by the court was 
wholly in my favor and makes my product an open commodity to the public. 

I would like to send my representative to see you with samples of different 
grades, and send you a trial order from sample you may select. Butterine is rapidly 
pushing to the front and will soon be recognized as a necessity by all dealers; 
more desirable than butter. It does not have the off flavors, colors, and tastes 
which are so common an objection to butter. " Moxley "s" butterine is the best 
made, and it has grown permanently in favor with the best and largest butter 
users in the country. 

Please mail postal for an interview; or I would be pleased to have you call at 
the factory and see me personally. 

Respectfully. W. J. Moxley. 

Dictated by W.'J. M. 



Exhibit 5. 

Another letter on the letter head of William J. Moxley, as follows: 

Chicago, April 5, 1899. 

notice to the trade. 

Inclosed find a color card, which is as near the color of our butterine as the 
printer's ink can represent. Our aim in sending you this card is to aid you in 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 149 

selecting- the proper color suitable to your trade. Mistakes are easily made, but 
sometimes hard to remedy. 

In nearlj' every section of the country there is a difference in the color of butter, 
and even in certain seasons of the yeai' there is a change, as you will have noticed. 
In winter butter is of a lighter color than in summer; in many sections this is the 
result of the difference in feed or pasture. 

We can give you just what you want at all seasons, if we know your require- 
ments. As an example, No. 1 has no coloring matter, No. 2 a little coloring, and 
so on to No. 8, which is the highest-colored goods we turn out. Preserve this 
card, order the color you want by number, and we will send you just what you 
want. 

Yours, truly, 

W . J. MOXLEY. 



May 10, 18'»9— 10.45 a. m. 
The committee met pursuant to adjournment. 

STATEMENT OF ME. ALBERT HELLER. 

Albert Heller, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

Q. Please state your name and residence. ^A. My name is Albert 
Heller; residence, 1718 Indiana avenue. 

Q. What is your business? — A. Manufacturer of stock foods, poul- 
try foods, disinfectants, and manufacturer of a preparation called 
rosaline and one called freezine. 

Q. Are you the proprietor of that establishment, Mr. Heller? — A. 
I am a partner. 

Q. You are one of the partners. Is it a firm, then? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who are the rest of the firm? — A. B. Heller. 

Q. I wish to state to you at the opening of the examination that 
this committee which has subpoenaed you is a committee known as 
the Committee on Manufactures of the United States Senate, and was 
directed to inquire into what food products are deleterious to health 
and what are frauds ui)on the communit3^ I subpoenaed you for a 
double reason. Your preparations were brought here before the com- 
mittee by the State chemist of Wisconsin, and in this examination I 
will say we have no desire to learn any of your trade secrets, if you 
liave any; no disposition to injure your business if it is legitimate; 
and, the matter having been brought up, I thought I would get what 
information I could from you and at the same time give you an oppor- 
tunity, if you desire to be heard, in regard to your own goods. — A. 
Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Now, we will take the first article that you prepare, 
which you have described as freezine. 

Answer. There is one thing about our preparations that I would like 
to speak to the committee alone on, if I could, because, in order to 
explain everything, it is necessarj' for me to give away trade secrets. 

The Chairman. I don't ask you to give away trade secrets. 

Answer. Then I can not explain it as I would like to. I think I can 
convince you that these preparations are not alone harmless, but are 
healthful; but in order to do that it is necessary for me to tell you 
what is in them, and I don't like to do this before reporters and have 
it published, because there are others. in the business and it will 
give away our trade secrets. I would be glad to tell you everything 
alDout them — any questions you may want to ask — the formulas and 
everything. 

Q. I suppose almost any chemist can analyze them? — A. Certainly. 



150 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

But these reporters will publish everything that I say, and the public 
will know all about these goods. It is really a trade secret — these 
formulas. Of course, the chemists can analyze them, but that would 
not give the public any other insight into our business; and if you 
will permit me to speak to the commission alone, I will tell you every- 
thing about it. 

The Chairman. Do you understand that even if you were talking 
to the committee, outside of the presence of the reporters, your evi- 
dence would be taken down stenographically and would be a part of 
the evidence before the Senate? 

Answer. 1 am willing that that be done, because it will not be pub- 
lished then as it would be if I give everything away here in the pres- 
ence of the reporters, and if the reporters afterwards publish it from 
Washington I am willing that that be done. The entire report, I pre- 
sume — that is, all the evidence — will not be published, will it? Sim- 
ply your report. I am willing that ihat report be published, of what 
I say; but the entire evidence I give will not be published, will it? 

The Chairman. It is the custom — I shall deal with jou frankly, as 
I hope to with everyone — the custom is to take all the evidence; and 
the usual custom is to have it printed by the Senate. [Addressing- 
Senator Harris.] 

Senator Harris. It is taken down b,y the stenographer, and a lit- 
eral transcript of what he takes down is printed as the report of the 
committee. The evidence which they receive is, of course, laid before 
the Senate, accompanied l)y the report. 

The Witness. I was under the impression that only your report 
would be published. 

Senator Harris. Oh, no. The custom is, in all investigations of 
this kind where a committee is appointed to take evidence, to have 
the whole transcript of the evidence accomi^any the report, so that 
other members of the Senate can draw their own conclusions from the 
statements made. 

The Witness. Well, I would much prefer to give my testimony 
here in the presence of the commission alone, and then if it is published, 
all right, and if the newspapers want to get it from the report, I pre- 
sume they can, but they can't get it then as soon as if it were given 
here openly. 

Senator Harris. Of course it would only be jjrinted next winter 
some time. 

The Witness. I would much prefer to wait until then, anyway. I 
would rather wait and have it published then, and I would much pre- 
fer if you will let me speak to you alone, because I can give you the 
entire insight of the business and the preparations, and I feel sure I 
can convince you that these prej)arations are not only harmless but 
actually beneficial. 

The Chairman. Of course you would not object to the presence of 
Dr. Wiley? 

Answer. No, sir; I would be glad to have him present. 

The Chairman. The chemist of the Department, who is here with us? 

Answer. I would be glad to have him present. 

Senator Harris (addressing the chairman). Mr, Chairman, I don't 
think that that is an unreasonable request. He is perfectly willing to 
furnish the commission with all the information which it desires, but 
there is no reason why it should be made absolutely in public. The 
evidence goes in and will be published hereafter. 

The Chairman. Then Mr. Heller may stand aside for the present, 

(The witness was withdrawn from the stand temporarily. ) 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD T'RODUCTS. 151 



STATEMENT OF JAMES F. SOMES. 

James F. Somes, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Answer. James F. Somes. 

The Chairman. AVhat is your business? 

Answer. I am selling butter, eggs, and cheese 

The Chairman. Where is your place of business? 

Answer. 4-4 Fifth avenue. 

The Chairman. Do j'ou sell oleomargarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Are you familiar with the law in regard to the sale 
of it? * 

Answer. Whj-, somewhat. 

The Chairman. Mr. Somes, I show you an exhibit, which is desig- 
nated "No. 4." Do you recognize it as from your place? [Handing 
same to Avitness.] 

Answer. We sell something of that kind, similar to it. 

The Chairman. Is your name on the pajjer? 

Answer. Yes, sir ; I guess so. [The witness examined the wrapper. ] 
Yes, sir. Xot mj" name; it is the name of the Ohio Butter Company. 

The Chairman. You represent liaat company? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Did you put this package up youi-self yesterday? 

Answer. I don't know. I put u}) one or tw^o packages of the kind 
yesterday. I may have done so. I don't know. 

The Chairman. Do you know what there is in this? 

Answer. It is supposed to be oleomargarine or butterine. 

The Chairman. Do you remember what was called for when that 
was furnished? 

Answer. No; I do not. I would sa}^ in that connection that the 
majorit}^ of people come in and want oleomargarine or butterine. 
They do not ask for it. Thej^ say, " Give me some butter," and they 
know what they are getting, most of them, when they are getting this 
butterine. 

The Chairman. What is the price of this butterine? 

Answer. Butterine runs from 15 to 18 cents. 

The Chairman. Then if a man says he wants some butter, you hand 
him out oleomargarine? 

Answer. Not always; no, sir. We try to do a fair business and to 
do an honorable business. 

The Chairman. What we want in this connection, Mr. Somes, is to 
find out — we are investigating the question of the adulteration of food 
products and how they are circulated. We are not seeking to incrimi- 
nate you or anybody else. 

Answer. I would say this : That I think the majority of my cus- 
tomers understand that they are buying butterine or oleomargarine. 
For a long time I stamped my packages all on the outside, and they 
would come and say, "What is this? I don't want this. Give me 
another wrapper." They knew what they were buying. They did 
not want to carry it along the street with a sign on, and to accommo- 
date them I had to do it, and to wrap another wrapper around them. 
And then the butterine people, or the agents of the butterine people, 



152 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

advised me that it was uot necessary; that if I stamped my jpaper, 
that was all that was required. And I have alwaj's tried to stamp 
my paper properly and to see that it was properly stamped. There 
was no intention on mj^ part to deceive anj'body. The majority of 
the people want butterine, and they don't want a sign on it so that 
everybody knows that they are buying butterine. People are fussy 
about such things. And I think the reason they buy it is because it 
is the only thing they can get that is sweet and good. 
The Chairman. We wilt excuse vou. 



STATEMEllfT OF EICHARD POLLAK. 

Richard Pollak, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: • 

Q. What is your name? — A. Richard Pollak. 

Q. What is yonv address? — A. 37 Fifth avenue, 

Q. This sample of butter or butterine purports to have been bought 
at your place yesterday. Did j^ou sell it yourself? — A. I don't know 
whether I did or not. Often I do sell them and oftentimes I do not. 
Sometimes there are other men there who sell it. 

Q. What is this, butter or butterine? — A. That is oleomargarine, 
l)utteriue? 

Q. And this is the paper it was wrapped up in? — A. It must be 
stamped with my name on there. [After examination.] Yes; it is. 

Q. Is that the way j^ou stamp them, when you put it in the corner 
and turn it down that way? — A. Not exactly,' not that I know of. 

Q. It is not your habit at all to sell one kind of food for another? — 
A. No; we only sell oleomargarine. We do not sell very much of it. 
Our principal trade is the meat business. 

Q. When this w^as ordered at your place yesterday, the gentleman 
who ordered it states that he called for creamery butter, I think, was 
the word. Do you furnish that to people when they call for creamery 
butter?— A. No. 

Q. What is the price of oleomargarine? — A. Oleomargarine runs 
from 13 cents. That is what we pay for this (indicating the sample). 

Q. That is, he paid 13 cents? — A. Thirteen, I think it is. I am not 
certain. 

Q. What was butter worth yesterday? — A. Butter was worth about 
18 cents. 

Q. Do you remem-ber what you charged for this? — A. Eighteen cents 
a pound. 

Q. Then you sell this at the same price you do butter? — A. We do 
not handle any butter, because we can not sell enough of it, and it is 
liable to spoil before we get rid of it. 

Q. You paj^ 13 cents for this and pay 18 for butter? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then, as a matter of fact, if a customer comes in there and asks 
for creamery butter you sell him this? — A. I don't know about this 
here. We do not sell creamery butter for 18 cents, though. 

Q, You do not sell creamerj' butter at all, do you? — A. No; not 
unless it is a special order; then we do get it. 

Q. Are you familiar with the internal-revenue law, which snys you 
shall mark each package so that it can be seen? — A. To a certain 
extent, I do. 

Q. You consider that nmrking it in tlie corner in this way and turn- 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 153 

ing it down is a compliance with the law? — A. The paper is generally 
marked on one end. That is supposed to be on top, and when you 
get through here and roll this in this way that corner will be on top 
(indicating). I do not know who wrapped that up. I am not in there 
half the time. 

Q. As a matter of fact, yesterday you had no butter at all on sale? — 
A. No butter. 

Q. And if a gentleman came in and asked for butter you gave him 
this? — A. Not exactly. If a gentleman wanted butter, we have not 
got it — that is, if I know about it. 

Senator Harris. Mr. Pollak, is this oleomargarine known in the 
trade as creamery butter; is it dealt in or recognized as creamery 
butter? 

Answer. Not that I know of. 

The Chairman. Did j-ou have anything about your place to indi- 
cate that you were dealing in oleomargarine? 

Ansv.'er. Why, I did not have any signs or anything like that. We 
have a license. 

Q. What sort of a package do you keep these rolls in? — A. I believe 
they are in 30-pound pails. 

Q. Rolled uj) separately? — A. Each roll is separate in the large 
package. 

Q. Where do you keep that package? — A. In the ice box. 

Q. Can your customers see that package? — A. Yes; if thej^ come in 
past the partition. There are signs on the outside. 
• Q. A man who wanted to could look in and see where you get 
it? — A. Certainl3\ 

Senator Harris. The original package is marked oleomargarine or 
butterine? 

Answer. Oleomargarine on the original package. 

Q. On the original package? — A. There is a revenue stamp on there 
according to how many pounds there is in the tub. We generally 
keep it outside, so people can see it, but now we keep it in the ice 
box. That is the difference. 



STATEMENT OF AUGUST CLIFF. 

August Cliff, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman : 

The Chairman (addressing the witnesses). You gentlemen all 
understand that this committee is only wanting to know the facts 
that relate to the sale of adulterated foods, how they are sold to* 
people without due notice, and there is no disposition to either injure 
your business or get j'ou to criminate yourselves; and if any witness 
is asked any question the answer to which might incriminate himself, 
he has a right to decline to answer. The committee can not, under 
the law, compel him to answer anything that might incriminate 
himself. 

Q. What is your name? — A. August Cliff. 

Q. Where do jow live? — A. 1454 West Park avenue. 
. Q. What is your place of business? — A. 68 Randolph street. 

Q. What is your business there? — A. I am a manufacturer of a 
complete line of pickles and horse-radish as well, and sell them there 
to the consumer as well as to the grocery stores throughout the country. 

Q. Do you sell oleomargarine? — A. I do, sir; yes, sir. 



154 ADULTEKATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. You are familiar with the law in regard to oleomargarine? — A. 
Partly, unless there is a new law passed of which I am not informed. 

Q. On yesterday there was brought before this committee, Mr. 
Cliff, a package of oleomargarine which a witness testified he pur- 
chased in your place, covered by this paper [indicating same] ; and I 
will say, for the benefit of the record, that there were two papers 
around it. Do you recognize that as a kind of wrapping paper you 
use [handing same to witness]? — A. Well, we have three or four kinds. 
In fact, we have different colors as well. I could not say whether that 
is the paper or not. However, by that circular [indicating a circular 
inclosed with the contents of the package] it indicates that it came 
from our place, because that is the way we advertise our goods. 

Q. Can you show to the committee anj^ place on that paper, any 

mark, which indicates A. Not on that. If there was not any 

other one, I can not. 

Q. Do you not wrap paper like that [showing to the witness another 
folded paper]?— A. Yes, sir; we have three or four colors of paper; 
straw paper as well as this; yes, sir; different colors. 

Q. That is a. package and the wrappers to it just as it came from 
your place. Is there any mark on the inside of this envelope showing 
that it is oleomargarine? — A. No, sir; there is not. We marked it on 
the paper. 

Q. Can you tell the committee how it happened in this particular 
case that you did not mark it at all?— A. I do not kno\^ wh}-- it 
should be all marked, according to the instructions of the house — 
unless there was a piece torn olf . 

Q. No; it was done up in the package and brought here by the 
witness just as those packages are. — A. The instructions are that 
every piece of paper shall be plainly marked. 

Q. Do you manufacture oleomargarine? — A. Oh, no; a complete 
line of pickle products. 

Q. Do you manufacture the Dundee Farm creamery butter? — A. 
We have a contract with a party to that effect, to furnish us the same. 

Q. Is that butter or oleomargarine? — A. That is butter. 

Q. Then you sell both butter and butterine? — A. And butterine; 
yes, sir. 

Q. And if a customer comes in and asks for creamery butter, would 
you sell him oleomargarine? — A. Not if I knew it. 

Q. You would be pretty apt to know it, wouldn't you? — A. If I 
waited on the customer, I would know it. If he wants butter, he gets 
it; and if he wants butterine, we give him butterine. 

Q. What was the price of butter yesterday?— A. Eighteen and one- 
half cents is what I paid for some. 

Q. What you paid for butter? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What was oleomargarine selling for yesterday? — A. From 16 to 
17 cents, in 5-pound pails. 

Q. Do you remember whether you waited on that gentleman there 
[indicating Mr. C. Y. Knight]? Do you remember seeing him yester- 
day? — A. I do not remember. I remember seeing him somewhere, 
though, but not yesterday, 

Q. Have you any explanation to make how it would be possible 
that you could sell oleomargarine to a man who called for butter and 
then not mark the package?— A. It looks as if it was torn off. 
Whether it was done in the store to make a smaller package out of 1 
pound and torn off wrong is possible. 

Q. You have those papers already stamped?— A. Sometimes. Not 
all the time. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 155 

Q. Do yon advertise to deal in oleomargariue at all? — A. To some 
extent, yes, sir. We advertise it and sell it for that. 

Q. Do you have any signs in your store? — A. The (Govern ment 
sign and tlien a sign "Butterine Department" as well. 

Senator Harris. You are a manuftifturer of pickles, Mr. Cliff? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. You buy all of the materials which enter into the making of 
pickles and put them thi'ough the pickling process? — A. We make 
contracts with the farmers for pickles and cuti them up and prepare 
them. 

Q. You get pickles in brine? — A. In salt; yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of vinegar do you use? — A. We buy it from Bunge 
and Mr. Ilenning. We have a contract with them. White-wine 
vinegar is what we use. 

Q. Do you take any steps to ascertain the character of the vinegar 
that you buy? — A. We investigate it as to whether we get full strength. 
That is as far as we can go. 

Q. There are various elements that enter into the make-up of vine- 
gar. Do .you insist upon cider vinegar, pure cider? — A. We use lots 
of cider for our piccalilli. 

Q. And you use other kinds of vinegar for other purposes? — A. 
Only white wine and cider. 

Q. You make every effort to ascertain that j^ou get that class of 
vinegar? — A. Oh, surely. Our reputation depends upon it. 

Q. Do 3^ou use any coloring matter whatever? — A. Xone whatever. 
We have no necessity for using it. 

Q. Very frequently, I believe, various substances are used to pro- 
duce a bright green color in pickles. — A. Some folks do it, but it is 
only done for export trade, where it is supposed to be for export trade, 
to keep its color. It is not necessary for local goods. 

Q. What are,tthe substances used for that purpose? — A. There are 
lots of chemicals manufactured by Merck & Co. which they use in 
Germany. They ship it to this country and sell it to the drug houses, 

Q. Those things are imported? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know of any manufacturer of such things in this coun- 
try? — A. W^ell, there are a good niany of them use it, but they keep 
it secret to themselves. 

Q. There are none of these deleterious or foreign substances that 
are openly manufactured here, are there? — A. No; that is all done 
through the drug trade — handled through the drug trade. 

Q. Is alum used sometimes? — A. A good deal; yes, a good deal 
of it. 

Q. In the manufacture of pickles? — A. Yes; for export trade espe- 
cially, and to stand a long time on the shelf, they do use it. 

Q. Isn't it used a good deal here in pickles which are sold here in 
the United States? — A. Not to my knowledge. They would not 
have to. 

Q. Copperas is sometimes used? — A. Yes. They prepare them in 
copper kettles and cause them to turn green. 

Q. You do not use any such things yourselves? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Your pickles es^jecially do not have that bright green look? — 
A. No, sir; the natural color. 

Q. Of course it is affected by vinegar, which makes the natural color 
darker, I believe. — A. When you use cider it will; yes. 

Q. Do you see in the trade occasionally these artificiall3^ colored 
pickles? — A. No; I do not. Only on import goods and goods which 



156 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

are supposed to stand ou the shelf a long time. I see it occasionally in 
stores. 

Q. That is what I mean. You see those things in the stores which 
your experience tells you have been artificially colored? — A. Yes. 

Q. In considerable quantities? — A. Well, yes. All those goods 
which are shipped in here and are supposed to be kept for a long time 
on the shelves are that way. 

Q, And j'^ou think that is confined to the imported goods? — A. The 
exporters do it as well. 

Q. On both import and export goods? — A. Yes. 

Q. Which we manufacture for export? — A, Yes. 

Q. But you think that is not done bj^ anyone for sale here at home? — 
A. No; not here at home. I see that in goods coming in from the out- 
side. 

Q. You use capsicum a good deal, do you not? — A. Not to a great 
extent. I use some. 

Q. Red pepper? — A. Yes. I use peppers which we buy from the 
farmers out on Randolph street, and we make contracts for them 
down in South Carolina. 

Q. You buy the red peppers from the farmers and grind it j^our- 
selves? — A. Chop it up; yes, sir. 

Q. You do not buy any of this ground capsicum of the spice mills? — 
A. Never use that at all, because that is no good anyway. 

Q. You think it is not worth using? — A. You do not get the strength, 
and therefore it would be wasted time to work with it. 

Q. It is mixed with something which weakens it down so that it is 
of no value? — A. Thej^ use ground meal and color it up, and every- 
thing else. 

Q. Paint it all over? — A. I would not have anything like that. 

Q. That, you think, is the custom generally with the spice-mill 
manufacturers? — A. Only with the cheaper class, not with the better 
class. 

Q. Of course, if you paj^ enough for it you can buy capsicum which 
would be practically pure? — A. Not for the price that they sell it. 

Q. They do not have any listed price which would justif}^ that? 
You mean they do not ofi:er to the trade at a price which would war- 
rant them in selling a pure article? — A. Yes; the,y have them, if you 
pay for them. That is all that is necessary. 

Q. You think that they simply respond to a demand for a cheap 
article? — A. Yes; with cheaper people they do so. 

Q. This hOi'se-radish. Is there ever any adulteration used in horse- 
radish? — A. There is considerable; yes. 

Q. What is the general adulterant? — A. They use Indian turnips 
to fill up the bottle and give it the color of horse-radish. 

Q. Indian turnips. You would not regard that as perfectly health j^? — 
A. There is nothing injurious in it, but it is a misrepresentation on 
its face. 

Q. I believe the medicinal qualities of the Indian turnip are such 
as to produce giddiness and vertigo? — A. It is healthy. 

Q. It is not very healthy to have any symptoms of that kind, is it? — 
A. Well, you can eat some of it. If you eat too much of it, it is very 
unhealth3^ The United States Dispensatory tells us it is verj^ good 
to a certain extent. 

Q. It is prescribed as a medicine sometimes; but so is strychnine 
and so is arsenic? — A. That is right. 

Q. They are occasionally used, but we would not like to have any- 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 157 

thing of that kind in what are commonly known as foods. — A. Not 
exactly. It does not belong there. 

Q. So that that wonld be an adulteration that ought to be prohib- 
ited. — A. That has been going on for the last fifteen years, and I 
have been making it for fifteen years, and I have a good deal of 
trouble to buck against people who are putting up turnij)s. 

Q. Of course ordinary turnip ground up would be a great weakener. 
It would simply weaken the strength of it? — A. It has not strength. 
It is a cheaper substitute. 

Q. It would simply weaken the strength and probably would not 
have any bad effect? — A. The strongest horse-radish is too bitter. 

Q. That is used also? — A. Yes, sir. It is too bitter. It is not good 
for the stomach at all. 

Q. Is the bulk of the horse-radish that is on the market adulter- 
ated, in your opinion? — A. To some extent. I would not saj^ the bulk. 
To some extent. There are lots of honest people who are putting up 
good goods. 

Question. Those are the ones we want to protect. 

The Witness. It loses its strength very rapidly. 

Q. Unless it is kept hermetically sealed? — A. Even then it does. 
Light and sun have an effect on the goods, the same as pickles. 

Q. In your chowchow, of course, you use a large amount of mus- 
tard?— A. Yes; I do. 

Q. Do you get that from the spice mills? — A, No; I do not. I have 
a contract with a man in New York, and he has been furnishing it to 
me, and also Cross & Blackwell, and a good many people in this country 
as well, who find it very satisfactory. 

Q. It is manufactured in this country? — A. By Charles Gulden, in 
New York. 

Q. And he exports his mustard to Cross & Blackwell? — A. Some of 
it ; not all. 

Q. He has the reputation as a manufacturer of pure mustard? — A. 
Yes; chowchow. 

Q. Did you ever analyze any of these things to ascertain? — A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You have tested this mustard? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And taken pains to see that it is up to the standard? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Take such an article as you have here as East India relish. That 
substance is composed of various substances which stimulate the 
appetite? — A. Green tomatoes and green peppers are the foundation 
of it. 

Q. And the peppers you buy from the grower? — A. From the farm- 
ers; make contracts for them. 



STATEMENT OF WILLIAM BROADWELL. 

William Broadw^ell, being first duly sworn, testified as follows : 
Examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Answer. William Broadwell. 

The Chairman. Your business? 

Answer. I have two or three lines of business — butter and cheese 
business, race-horse business, and so on and so forth. 

The Chairman. Which one of them do you carry on at No. 193 
West Madison street? 



158 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. Butter and cheese. 

The Chairman. Do you sell any oleomargarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Were you present yesterday at your place of 
business? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Do you say your business there is butter and 
cheese? 

Answer. Pure butter, oleomargarine, and cheese. 

Senator Harris. Have you seen this sample which was produced 
here yesterday? [Referring to one of the samples of butterine pro- 
duced before the commission on the previous day by Mr. Knight.] 

Answer. No; I have not. I just noticed the paper. I noticed that 
the stamp was quite plain. That is my stamp. 

Senator Harris. It would not be quite so readily seen, would it, if 
it should be folded in this way. [Referring to the manner in which the 
wrapper was folded wlTen presented first to the commission, the corner 
on which the word "Oleomargarine" was stami^ed being turned over, 
so that the word was not visible.] 

Answer. I will tell you, your honor. There are two ways of explain- 
ing that — a mean way and a good way. This gentleman sitting here 
explains it the mean way, but I explain it the good way. 

Senator Harris. When you say "this gentleman," whom do you 
mean? 

Answer. I just saw him here a minute ago, some place. 

Senator Harris. Is that the gentleman? [Referring to Mr. Knight. ] 

Answer. That is him, right there; he is the fellow. He can wrap it 
one way and I can wrap it another, I can wrap it this way, so that it 
will come on the outside. He can wrap it so that it will come on the 
inside. It is just the way the man might take it. 

Senator Harris. Yes ; but, Mr. Broad well, this package was opened 
here yesterday from what seemed to be an original package. 

Answer. It might have been opened before it got here, your honor. 
Do you see the point? They ain't no honester than I am. I believe 
my men put that stamp on there as plain as they can put the ink on 
the page every morning, and any man that don't do it I will fire him. 
They have been after us a long time, this man here has? [Referring 
to Mr. Knight. ] 

Senator Harris. Does that look like a jDackage from your place? 

Answer. Well, sir, I could not state that unless I see it unwrapped, 
and see if it has my name on it. It does not look like mine, because 
the stamp is not on the outside; but it could be remodeled and 
rewrapped, and the stamp could be put on the inner side. 

Senator Harris. If he called there yesterday for creamery butter 
and you sold him this — is it your habit when thej^ call for butter to 
sell them oleomargarine? 

Answer. When a man says, " I want strictly A No. 1 jjure butter," 
we show him pure butter, and if it is good enough for him he buys it. 
If it is not, we show him something else. If he prefers this oleomar- 
garine in preference to pure butter, we give him that. We tell him 
to taste it, and if it suits him he pays us for it, and if it doesn't suit 
him he gets out. We have pure butter and butterine also, and if a 
man will taste of both and prefers this in preference to pure butter, 
that is what he wants. We have more trouble with our pure-butter 
customers bringing pure butter back, and then they will go to work, 
and they don't want any butterine, but if we let them taste of it, and 



ADTTLTERATION OV FOOD PRODUCTS. 159 

ask them, "Does that suit you?" the}' say, "Yes." Then they take 
it home and become stead}' customers all the time. 

Senator Harris. They like tlie oleomargarine? 

Answer. That is the only thing the}^ like and the only thing that 
will keep and give the poor people satisfaction. That is the poor peo- 
ple's friend. He [referring to Mr. Knight] is the rich man's friend. 
That is true as j'ou live. He wants butter to be worth 60 cents a pound, 
aiid us ijoor devils have got to go without. 

The Chairman. This committee is not examining into the moral 

turpitude of anj^ gentleman, only so far as it relates to the circulation 

of impure food or of food that may be pure which is sold as a substi- 

'tute for some other food, and we are anxious to know just how much 

butterine is sold for butter. 

Answer. That is all right. 

The Chairman. Where do you keep your box that these juickages 
came in. 

Answer. Right in front of the customers and in the original package. 
There is no excuse for me to do things contrarj^ to law, because I 
make it a study. The law reads you must not take oleomargarine 
from the original stamped package before selling. It is taken out 
right before the customer's eyes, taken out of the original stamped 
package, and the package is stamped, and it goes on in that way until 
the box is empty and then it is scratched and made way M'ith. You 
can see that stamp on every paper and every package that goes out 
of the store. I would almost stake my life that you will find it, as 
plainly as you see it there, on every one. 

The Chairman. When this i)aper was opened here it was folded 
just in this way [indicating]? 

Answer. Yes. 

The Chairman. You can not see it. 

Answer. As I say, it can be folded in a number of waj'S. 

The Chairman, liut you say you do not fold it that way. 

Answer. They are folded with the stamp on the outside. That there 
[indicating] is quite large. ■ That ought to be folded to a point, to 
make the package look nice, so there would be a small portion of the 
red ink across the top, and the balance would be folded on the inner 
side. You can call that folded under the inner side or on the outside, 
just as 3'ou are a mind to figure. 

The Chairman. That does not have the appearance of ever having 
been opened, does it? 

Answer. No; it does not look like it there; no — of being opened. 

The Chairman. It does not look like it had ever been opened? 

Answer. My friend, there are scientific deals in all kinds of busi- 
ness. I will tell you that they are pretty slick — that is, they think 
they are. 

(The chairman here opened the package above referred to.) 

The Chairman. That is folded to a point, is it not? 

Answer. Yes. 

The Chairman. It makes what yt)u call a neat and business-like 
package, does it not? 

Answer. The way it is there. It was tried to be made so. I will 
stake my life that that is stamped, if that is the paper I sold it in. 
They done a nice job. The stamp is real large, too. 

The Chairman. Now, Mr. Broadwell, do you say that that was not 
folded that way when in your store? 

Answer. Not to my knowledge, because I don't think that I wrapped 



160 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

it up. If it was wrapped that way, it was wrapped against my wishes, 
and, of course, when a business man is passing — I would not swear to 
it without I saw it myself. The grade of oleo that there is in that 
package is as good as I made, and it is sold for a low price, not for a 
butter price. 

The Chairman. What was this sold for j^esterday? 

Answer. Fifteen to 18 cents is the price. I don't know what that 
gentleman paid for it. 

Mr. Knight. Eighteen cents I paid for it. 

The Chairman. Do you know what makes the difference in the 
price? 

Answer. The dilf erence is on account of the difference in the grade ' 
and quality. 

Senator Harris. Do you think the difference in the price is a notice 
to the purchaser? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. The difference in the price between that and the 
price of pure butter? 

Answer. A man who pays 15 and 18 cents for butter knows what he 
is getting, because he knows if he goes into a grocery store he has got 
to pay 20 and 25 cents for A No. 1 butter. 

Senator Harris. But he might not know what pure butter was 
worth. 

Answer. If he goes in and asks the question he will find out right 
away, quick. 

Senator Harris. Ordinarily, when a man simply goes in and asks 
for butter, you are just as apt to show him that as to show him any- 
thing else? 

Answer. We show him both kinds, and let him take his pick. 

Senator Harris. You tell him which is which? 

Answer. We show him the oleo right from the original stamped 
package and the pure butter, and then let him take his choice. 

Senator Harris. You simply hand them out to him, whichever he 
may ask for? 

Answer. We show him the pure butter, and then I say, ' ' I have got 
something else, and you can taste it and see if it suits you." 

Senator Harris. You tell him that you have pure butter or oleo- 
margarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir. And we have advertisements all over the store. 
Probably more signs in my store than in any other store in Chicago, 
" Oleomargarine and pure butter." 

Senator Harris. You think you could sell just as much oleomarga- 
rine as if the word "butter " was not used at all? 

Answer. You don't have to tell them a thing. They like it. They 
love it. 

Senator Harris. Well, a rose by any other name is said to smell as 
sweet. 

Answer. I don't care what you call it, they would buy it just the 
same. Some millionaires, too, with plug hats on, would buy it, too. 
If I should tell you some people in this town, it would scare j'^ou to — 
they know what they are buying, and they try to jew me down and 
buy it for 10 cents less on the pail. 

Senator Harris. That is the way they became millionaires, proba- 
bly. I very much prefer butterine, although I am not a millionaire, 
to bad butter. 

Answer. That is the point; we can not get good butter. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 161 

Senator Harris. Yon can not get good butter because the price is 
too high? 

Answer. No; it is not that. You take the finest of creamery, and 
the way tlie general run of people keep it in their pantries it only lasts 
a couple of days and then it turns strong, and they fetch it back to 
you and say: "This is oleomargarine." 

Senator Harris. Have you ever heard of a preparation called 
"Freezine?" 

Answer. No ; I never have. 

Senator Harris. Or any jjreparations which are supposed to prevent 
this rapid degeneration of butter? 

Answer. No; I never did. I have seen in cold storage, at the time 
that these cases came up in court — I was taken over there and shown 
butter that I could see the streaks whei'e the real, genuine maggots 
crawled through it. 

Senator Harris. What I want to get at is whether in j^our trade — 
the subject which I am following up now is whether any artificial pre- 
servative, any antiseptic preparation 

Answer. Not in the least. 

Senator Harris (continuing). Is used to keep or preserve butter? 
You don't handle milk or cream or anything of that kind? 

Answer. No, sir. 

Senator Harris. And you know of nothing that is used to preserve 
the good qualities of pure butter? 

Answer. I am probably the largest dealer in Chicago in this line, and 
probably sell more than any three or four stores in this town, alone. 
I buy it fresh every morning, and it goes by that same night. I don't 
buy a quantity ahead. For that reason I have no complaints about 
this article. I don't store it. 

Senator Harris. You use it up as rapidly as you buy? 

Answer. Yes, sir; pure butter and oleo also. We call it "oleo" 
for short. 

Senator Harris. The oleo does not change with time or tempera- 
ture? 

Answer. No, sir. 

Senator Harris (continuing). Nearly so rapidty, at least? 

Answer. No. I find that a pail of oleomargarine will last a month 
in warm weather, during July and August, when pure butter would 
be brought right back in two or three days, and they would say, "This 
is oleomargarine. I can tell by the smell of it." It shows they are 
ignorant, or they would not say it. They fetch it back, and take 
away a pail of oleomargarine, and become regular customers. 

Senator Harris. It is merely a matter of choice, and there is no 
way known to the trade by which pure butter can be kept in warm 
weather? 

Answer. There is no way on earth to keep it, because you take and 
put it in an ice box, it is not cold enough. I don't care how good the 
quality is, it will not keep. I have sold as good butter as money 
could buy, and I have had it returned to me within a limit of three 
days in hot weather. 

Senator Harris. Don't you think the word "butterine" was coined 
with a view to deception? 

Answer. It was once upon a time, and that is the reason they 
changed it. We are not allowed to use the word "butterine" now 
at all. 

Senator Harris. You don't use it now? 
F p 11 



162 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. No, sir; I never mention the word "butterine." It is 
"oleomargarine" or "pure butter," one of the two. That is the 
reason they changed that name, so that people could not be beat in 
that way. 

Senator Harris. You think, generally in the trade, there is a dis- 
position to sell the oleomargarine on its merits? 

Answer. Yes, sir; and a man don't have a particle of trouble. 

Senator Harris. Without attempting to conceal its true character 
or sell it as butter? 

Answer. Don't have to, at all; but there is a class of people that 
come into my store, who are up in the world and who have got lots of 
money, and they come in and call for a pail of butter the same as 
they had before. The.y would not come in and ask outright for oleo. 

Senator Harris. If it has the merit that you claim for it, why should 
people object to saying "oleomargarine?" 

Answer. They don't want the man that is next to them to know that 
they are using oleomargarine. 

Senator Harris. They think there is some social degradation in it? 

Answer. I should say there was. If you only knew that much about 
the class of people that buy that in my store, you would almost fall 
dead, as ti-ue as you are living. 

Senator Harris. I don't see anything humiliating or embarrassing 
in the purchase of an article which is good and satisfactory to the 
taste and which will retain its good qualities. Of course I am a mere 
countryman, but I don't see why a man should not come in and say 
' ' I want some oleomargarine, because it suits my palate, and because 
it will keep longer than butter." 

Answer. Yes; but they don't want to let anybody else know any- 
thing about it, and they will come in and call me off to one side and 
whisper to me, "Can't you make it 10 cents cheaper this time?" 
You'd be surprised, I tell you. I don't want to call any names, but I 
tell you it is dreadful. Then, do you think they don't know what 
they are buying? And then they ask me about the goods I handle; 
that I shall see'that they don't get Swift's or Armour's. I tell them I 
handle Moxley's, and Braun & Fitts's. All right then, so long as it 
is theirs. 

Senator Harris. There are different grades, even in the nobility of 
oleomargarine? 

Answer. That is what there is. 

Senator Harris. Some is good, and some is better. 

Answer. Tliere is some that I would not handle at all. It might ba 
all right, but in m}^ opinion it is not. 

Senator Harris. "What do you think makes the difference? 

Answer. AVell, of course there is a certain kind of cream and but- 
ter that is put into the higher grades that make it sweeter and nicer, 
and a better smell and taste to it. 

Senator Harris. Would not that have a tendency to make in dete- 
riorate, the more butter that was in it? 

Answer. There is not enough butter put in it to turn it. There are 
other articles put with it to keep it. 

Senator Harris. It does not get so good as to be hurt by it? 
Answer. It is just like a man making coffee; rubs the coffee can up 
against the grounds, and that is as near as the coffee gets to it. 

Senator Harris. You say that this mixture is what makes the 
higher grades of oleomargarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir; it gives it a nicer, sweeter taste, and a nicer 
flavor. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 163 

Senator Harris. Makes it better? 

Answer. Makes it better; but I think the inferior quality will keep 
longer. 

Senator Harris. It is a contest between flavor and quality and dura- 
bility? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senate Harris. And if j'ou improve the quality and flavor, you do 
it at a certain expe'nse of durability? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. And permanence? 

Answer. Yes, sir. I never handle any cheap grades at all what- 
ever. 1 never did in my life and never will. That is the reason I do 
the business I do. 

Senator Harris. Do you think there is anything else used in these 
inferior grades of oleomargarine? 

Answer. No; I don't think there is, because it is composed mostly 
of tallow 

Senator Harris. The nearer they come to tallow the more perma- 
nent it is? 

Answer. Yes, sir; because I never saw a piece of tallow spoil in my 
life. I don't think there is any such thing as its spoiling. 

Senator Harris. You never have seen rancid tallow? 

Answer. I don't know as I ever did. There might be such a thing, 
but I don't know as I ever saw it. The more cream you put into oleo, 
the shorter time it will keep. That is the way I figure about it. 

Senator Harris. It is a balancing between the two qualities? 

Answer. Yes. And seeing as I have such a terrible big trade, and 
I get it fresh every morning, I never have any comjilaints. 

Senator Harris. But there is a disposition, for social reasons, to 
stick to the old-fashioned word "butter?" 

Answer. There is a millionaire comes in, and he says he wants 
another pail of butter for a dollar twenty-five. 

Senator Harris. Plow about the fellow who is not a millionaire? 

Answer. He is just as proud as the millionaire. 

Senator Harris. The fellow who works for $1.50 a day — does he 
care whether his package is labeled "oleomargarine" or not? Does 
he object to it? 

Answer. I never saw one that ever did. 

Senator Harris. And he will come in and walk right up like a 
man and ask for oleomargarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir. And I have had them come in and discover the 
stamp — the stamp would be on the outside — and they say, "Here, I 
don't want any more butterine." I say, "All right; I will show you 
all kinds." And I will get 6 or 8 pails out and say, "Take your 
pick," and he will pick out butterine ninety-nine times out of a hun- 
dred. 

Senator Harris. But he does not want butterine? 

Answer. No. And I have to say, ' ' Here is butter and here is but- 
terine; which will you take?" He says, " That tastes the finest I ever 
saw in my life; I guess I will take that." And that settles his argu- 
ment. He never argues an}^ more. 

Senator Harris. There is a prejudice against the name among all 
classes? 

Answer. Among all classes in regard to calling for it. 

Senator Harris. Against the use of the name? 

Answer. Yes, sir. I knew of a gentleman the other day; I met him 



164 ADTJLTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

out on the west side, and another man says, " How do you know this 
man here?" and he said, " I huy butterine from him." And he is a 
millionaire, too. 

Senator Harris. He was not afraid. 

Answer. No; he was not afraid. He did not care. But he would 
not come into my store and call for oleomargarine in front of a crowd ; 
but he will go outside and say, " I buy oleomargarine from this man." 
He buys it for 15 cents. 

Senator Harris. Do you think a man is entitled to know just what 
he is getting? 

Answer. Certainly he is. 

Senator Harris. In your business you offer him every opportunity 
to know? 

Answer. I do so much business I don't have to lie to him. They 
buy it anyway. I don't have to lie to him. 1 am doing the real, genu- 
ine thing in Chicago, and I don't have to lie for it. And I am making 
the money. I don't have to lie to them. If they don't like it, let them 
go somewhere else and get beat, and then they will come back to me 
later. 

Senator Harris. You have no knowledge of any practice or custom 
in your establishment of folding the corner of the paper, such as we 
have seen? 

Answer. Not in any way, shape, form, or manner. 

Senator Harris. No such idea as that is given out to your employees? 

Answer. We had some trouble about folding the paper. I will show 
you how it can be folded in, in many ways. We will suppose the stamp 
is on this corner [illustrating] , and the stamp comes from this end, as 
you see, down to tliis — comes right around the outside. You can take 
that and fold it over like that [illustrating], on the outside, and still 
it is on the outside. I don't do it, but they done it, and they claim it 
is folded on the inside. Do you see it is right here, across this top? 
Then they take it and fold it like that [indicating], and fold it in 
again, and you see it is on the inside. 

Senator Harris. That is done with a stamp? 

Answer. Yes. 

Senator Harris. And you put your rubber stamp on the pad and 
then put it on the paper? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. It would be a simple matter, when the package is 
wrapped up, to put that stamp on the outside, would it not? 

Answer. Yes, sir. Then they take it and turn the paper over, and 
put the word "oleo" on the other side, and put it on the inside. 

Senator Harris. So far as you are concerned, that would be the 
simplest possible way? 

Answer. Yes, and many times, just as soon as he makes the discov- 
ery that this is oleo, on the outside, he says, "Put another wrapper on 
it, to hide it." They don't want to be walking along the street show- 
ing people that they are buying oleomargarine, but still they want it. 
When this new law came up, about a year ago, I went to sell pure 
butter, and it came back just as fast as I sold it. 

Senator Harris. It did not have keeping qualities. 

Answer. No, sir; it did not have keeping qualities, and I never saw 
any that ever did have. 

The Chairman. This resolves itself into a question of veracity 
between you and this gentleman. [Indicating Mr. Knight. ] In other 
words, he says he bought these two packages from your store. 



ADULTERATION OB^ FOOD PRODUCTS. 165 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I have opened both j)ackages in the presence of 
the committee, and they were both folded 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Each fokled in the same wat. Now, what is your 
explanation? That it has been changed after it left your store? 
■ Answer. It must have been, without this man that I have there has 
a new way of wrapping them up, and contrary to my advisement. 
Of course a man can go on and ]3ick for a flaw, such as he has done, 
and make trouble and string it along if he wishes. And, as I say, a 
man can wrap it up a dozen different ways and bring it up here and 
swear that he got it that identical way. I would not sa}^ that he did 
it, but I have my oj)inion. He is getting pay for this, you know, and 
I am not. 

Senator Harris. There is one question I want to ask you further. 
The pure butter which you sell is whollv or parti j" colored, or how is 
that? 

Answer. Some of it is as yellow as gold. 

Senator Harris. What proportion of it is artificially colored? 

Answer. I could not just state; there is a good deal of it, because 
in January butter is as white as snow almost, very nearly, and we get 
it yellow in the winter time. 

Senator Harris. If genuine butter were not artificially colored, 
would it not be easier to distinguish it from oleomargarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir; because all oleomargarine is colored. 

Senator Harris. That is uniformly colored? 

Answer. Yes, sir; uniformly colored, just as you see there. [Refer- 
ring to samples of oleomargarine on the table.] 

Senator Harris. And in the actual process of producing the genuine 
butter, the color varies with the season? 

Answer. In January it would be almost white. 

Senator Harris. In June it would all be about the same color? 

Answer. No; in June you get the green grass. 

Senator Harris. Then, I say, it would be the color of oleomargarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir; and, as I understand, the two articles are colored 
by the same thing. 

Senator Harris. There is a very decided contest, practically, between 
the creamery men and the manufacturers of oleomargarine, as to who 
shall have the exclusive privileges of coloring their jDroduct? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I believe there is. These people [referring to the 
interests represented bj^ Mr. Knight] want the oleomargarine men to 
quit coloring it, but they don't want to quit themselves. They want 
to live in glass houses all the time, and they want to protect the poor 
man. We charge 15 and 18 cents; they want 25 and 30 now. What 
would they get in cold weather — in January and Februar}^? They 
want to get 60 cents. They want to protect the poor man. 

Senator Harris. If oleomargarine should be all colored pink, would 
that affect the sale of it? 

Answer. You could not sell a pound of it. 

Senator Harris. Why? 

Answer. It kills it right there. 

Senator Harris. Because everybody would know that it was oleo- 
margarine? 

Answer. Yes, sir. Just as I was telling you about the millionaire 
buying oleomargarine. We will suppose I invited you to my house to 



166 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

/ 
take dinner, and I had some of this pink butter on the table. Would 
you eat it? You would say I was a cheap skate, wouldn't you? 

Senator Harris. Very well. Then, practically, the oleomargarine 
has to masquerade as butter? 

Answer. It has to resemble butter. 

Senator Harris. It has to masquerade — it has to assume to be butter? 

Answer. Not if you can whisper to the man it is all right. 

Senator Harris. That is just the same thing. Now, is it not the 
plain, palpable fact that oleomargarine is a fraud upon the public? 

Answer. No, sir. 

Senator Harris. In the sense that it is masquerading as butter? 

Answer. No, sir; it is not, because I will tell you why. A man will 
come in and step up ' to you and whisper and say, ' ' I want a pail of 
oleo." He is not going to go out in front of the push and say, "I want 
a pail of oleo." 

Senator Harris. He is not willing to deceive himself, but he is will- 
ing to deceive his friends? 

Answer. Yes, sir; just the same as when you come into my house 
to dinner and see this joink stuff on the table. 

Senator Harris. If we are all in the same boat, why not throw aside 
the concealment? Why not simply let it be known, and make a dis- 
tinctive color distinction? 

Answer. Well, sir, it has killed it in other States. 

Senator Harris. What effect does it have upon the price of butter? 
Suppose oleomai'garine was colored pink? 

Answer. It would run pure butter right up to 40 and 50 cents a 
pound, because the people would quit buying it for that one reason. 

Senator Harris. You think that would be a great injury to the poor 
man? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. You are a friend of the poor man? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I am a friend of the poor man. 

Senator Harris. You said that, I believe. 

Answer. There is not so much money in the butter business as peo- 
ple think; if that was colored j)ink it would be a dead letter. 

Senator Harris. You think pure butter would practically go to such 
a price that the great masses of people would be forced to use the pink 
butter? 

Answer. The people would do just as Mr. Weaver did, on South 
Water street — run all over the west part of town and buy this stuff, 
and put it in cold storage. 

Senator Harris. Do you know whether they put acids in it to pre- 
serve it? 

Answer. I understand that is what they put in poor butter. 

Senator Harris. I asked you a while ago if jon knew of any artifi- 
cial method by which butter could be treated. 

Answer. I misunderstood you. I understood you to say in regard 
to oleomargarine, about the acids. 

Senator Harris. No; I said butter. 

Answer. That is a different question. Yes ; I have heard tell that 
there are acids put in. 

Senator Harris. That there are antiseptic and other preparations 
used to preserve pure butter? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have been told so by people who handled it. 

Senator Harris. You have never handled any yourself? 

Answer. No, sir; I never have. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 167 

Senator Harris. Do 3*011 know anything about the character of this 
antiseptic preparation? 

Answer. No, sir, I don't; but I know that they must have put some 
such stuff in it to purify that old maggoty stuff, the same as I saw in 
the tub. 

Senator Harris. At least to kill the maggots? 

Answer. You have got to put something pretty strong in it to do 
hat. 

Senator Harris. You liave no knowledge whatever on that subject, 
have you? 

Answer. No, sir; I have not. They — they know. [Referring to 
Mr. Knight's representatives.] 



STATEMENT OF C. Y. KNIGHT— Recalled. 

C. Y. Knight, having been previously sworn, was recalled, and 
further testified as follows: 

Examination by the Chairman: 

Q. This package of butter we have just been talking about, Mr. 
Knight, which Mr. Broadwell says came from his store and which 
you say came from his store, I opened it here this morning. Had it 
been opened since you bought it before you brought it here? — A. You 
said "butter" there. May I correct you on that? 

Q. Yes. — A. Oleomargarine. No; it had not. I bought it at about 
ten minutes of G last night, took it directly to my office, put it on the 
window sill, and left it until I came here this morning, hat and the 
three other packages there. 

Q. Where were these packages bought? — A. Those were bought of 
the Ohio Butter Company, of Mr. Somes, who was here this morning. 
I called for creamery butter and paid 18 cents for it. 

Q. Was Mr. Broadwell there? 

Mr. Broadwell. No ; I was not there. 

The Witness. It was already wrapped up. They took it from a 
box under the counter, at the farther right-hand counter, from among 
a lot of packages which were already wrapped and from the same 
place where I got the other in the morning, which I brought up here. 
I have not marked those. If j^ou like, I will identify them. 

(The witness identified the three packages bj' marking on them 
" C. Y. Knight, Ohio Butter Company.") 

Q. Did you get these three packages at the same place? — A. No, 
sir; I got these at the Ohio Butter Company's place. 

Q. AH at the Ohio Butter Companj^'s place? — A. These three. I 
wanted to find out whether it was an accident that they were turned 
under, or whether they were doing it right along. 

Q. Have you opened these since you bought them? — A. No, sir; I 
have not touched them. 

Senator Harris. I would like to ask a question or two. 

The Chairman. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Do you know any process whatever which can be 
or which is used, by the use of antiseptics or anything of that kind, 
to increase the keeping qualities of butter? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I want to call your attention to this butter, and to 
the fact that it is not marked at all [handing package to the witness]. 



168 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

What did you call for when they lianded you that? — A, Creamery 
butter. I would suggest that these will have to be analj-zed, inas- 
much as there is no mark on them to indicate that they are oleomar- 
garine, to prove that they are not butter, although they came out of 
an oleomargarine box. 

The Chairman. For the purpose of this investigation I suppose that 
will not be necessary. 

The Witness. There it is on that one [indicating] ; the same thing. 

Q. The second one opened is stamped. You say you bought them 
all at the same place? — A. Yes, sir. I needed 3 pounds. I just came 
up Fifth avenue from mj^ office, from South Water street right up this 
avenue, or rather I went down from here and took the stores which I 
passed. I did not go out of my way. 

The chairman oj)ened the third package. 

The Chairman. Here is a stamp inside. So two of them are stamped 
and one is not. 

Senator Harris. Will you tell the committee, Mr. Knight, fully what 
you know Avith regard to such preparations that are used? 

Answer. The only antiseptic that I know of that is being used in 
butter is boracic acid, ijowdered and refined to borax, and that, so far 
as I know, is onlj^ used for the export trade. 

Q. That would be mixed in with the butter? — A. Yes; about one- 
half of 1 per cent is mixed in with the butter, like salt. That is used 
universally from Australia, the butter that is shipped to England; in 
all the butter that goes from France to England; practically everj^thing 
that goes from Ireland to England; and it was with that preparation 
that the Australians were enabled to send butter a distance of 10,000 
miles into England. 

Q. What about its use in this countrj"? — A. The use in this country 
has been on the order of the importers to England. 

Q. You mean for export from here? — A. Yes. An Englishman 
would order 4,000 or 10,000 or whatever number of boxes he desired 
of butter to be sent, and would order it put up in that way. 

Q. It is supposed to be effective? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There is difficulty here at home as to the keeping qualities of 
butter? — A. That is true. 

Q. Why should it not be used just as much for home trade as for 
export trade? — A. There is a prejudice against it, and there are laws 
against it in different States. 

Q. The States which have pure-food laws would prohibit it? — A. 
No. There are only two or three States that I know of. Michigan, 
New York, and Minnesota are the only three States I recall which 
have laws against the use of borax in preserving butter. 

Q. It could be used in all of the other States? — A. It could be used 
in all of the other States ; yes, sir. 

Q. Do you think it is used? — A. Well, I am pretty sure that where 
an export order 

Q. No. — A. For local consumption? 

Q. Yes. — A. I never have heard of auj'' being used for local con- 
sumption. 

Q. It is just as important to have butter with good keeping quali- 
ties for local trade as for exj)ort trade. — A. That is true, but at the 
same time there is a prejudice against it, and it will not be used except 
in cases where it is ordered. 

Q. Can the buyer detect it? — A. No, the buyer can not detect it, 
but a chemist can very readilj^ detect it. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 169 

Q. A chemist can detect oleomargarine, as a matter of course? — A. 
Yes, sir. 

Q. You think that the creamery men are not willing to deceive the 
public in this way? — A. Well, for the domestic trade, I do not know 
of any call for an antiseptic in butter. We never have heard of it. 
You take, for instance, in New York, and in the New England States 
largely, and the butter-consuming States — you can hardly call Illinois 
a butter-consuming State — they report no trouble about the keeping 
qualities of butter that comes on in that way, and there is no trouble 
about the keeping qualities of the butter. 

Q. Then you think the practice of the creameries is to use such an 
article as that where they have an order for export, and they refrain 
from using it for domestic use? — A. I do not believe, of the 8,000 
creameries that there are in this country, that there are 10 which use 
an antiseptic. I know a good deal about that antiseptic business, for 
the reason that when I was in England a year ago I made a verj^ close 
study of the reason whj^ Australia could i^ut butter into England and 
we could not compete with them, although we were only 3,000 miles 
away and they were 10,000 miles, and I found that boron preservatives 
were used in practically everything; and I am told bj^ a gentleman 
who exports three-quarters of the Australian butter from Melbourne, 
who was here the other day, that it was used universally, and the 
English Government approves of the use of it up to a certain extent. 

Q. You think the English public does not object to it? — A. The 
English public does not object to it except where there is agitation. 
Now, the Danish exporters of butter, because of their closeness to the 
English market, find it very easy to put butter into England without 
an antiseptic. 

Q. The Danish butter, I believe, commands the highest price in 
the English market? — A. No, sir; it does not. The French butter 
commands the highest price. What is known as the Brettel-Frare 
butter commands the highest price in England. 

Q. That is butter without salt? — A. That is butter without salt. 

Q. And there is a preservative used in that? — A. Yes, sir; there is 
in that. But the most popular butter in England is the Danish butter. 
That is the most popular butter. It reaches the high, middle class. 
This French or Brettel-Frare butter is largely consumed by the bon 
ton. 

Q. The epicures? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. The Danish butter, though, is the most generally used? — A. 
Yes, sir. That is the most generally used high-priced butter. Next to 
that comes the Australian, and then the Irish and Canadian, or rather, 
I should place the Canadian before the Irish, 

Q. Do the Canadians use this preservative? — A. Not to anj'' great 
extent, any more than we do here in this country. Just about the 
same, I should say. I know of Canadian importers who buy and take 
back Canadian butter in this country who order that i)ut in their 
butter. 

Q. Do you know an^'^thing about the quantity of this preservative 
used? — A. The quantity usually used, in the first place, is about 1 
per cent — 1 pound to the hundred pounds of butter. About half of 
that washes out in the brine, leaving about one-half of one per cent. 

Q. Is it mixed with salt and worked into the brine? — A. Either that 
way or sprinkled over and worked separately. 

The Chairman. You know our Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Wil- 
son, made some experiments in shipping butter to England? 



170 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

Answer. Yes, sir; I am very familiar with that. 

Q. He did not find it necessary to use anj^ acid at all, did he? — A. 
No. I know the Secretary did not use any boracic acid or any pre- 
servative in his butter at all. 

Q. And his shipments and experiments were a success? — A. I can 
not say as to that, sir, becaiise, while I am very familiar with them, I 
am not familiar with the outcome. I do not know what the outcome 
was. We never have made a success, so far as that is concerned, of 
shipping fine butter to the other side, not because of any lack of keep- 
ing qualities or anything of that kind after it got over there, so much 
as from the fact that we could not give them a steady supply. Our 
home demand here fluctuates so and goes up and down with the tide 
of production and consumption, prosperity or hard times, as it may 
be, that with 70,000,000 people we have half a million tubs one year 
and the next year we will be short. That is our condition, and the 
Englishman will not take butter from any country which can not give 
him 'a steady supply. 

Q. It takes time to establish a reputation? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is this butter which is spoken of as new-process butter? — 
A. That is butter that is made from what we call farmer's butter; 
the kind of butter we used to eat eight or ten years ago, that is broughc 
into the country stores and shipped into the city, and is taken from 
there to factories and melted down, salted, water precipitated, and 
rechurned in an emulsion of skimmed milk, so as to put back in it — 
resalted and possibly recolored, if it needs it — to put back in it parts 
which are taken out. That is to say, they take out the brine, the 
casein, and other matter which may have become tainted or stale, and 
replace them. When the butter fat is melted it becomes the same as any 
other oil. The flavor of the butter is in the casein and not the fats. 
The flavor is replaced by this casein in the churn the same as oleo- 
margarine is churned, to put the casein in, that which gives it the 
butter flavor. 

Senator Harris. There is nothing else used in the process except 
what you have desQi'ibed? 

Answer. It is not necessary to put anything else in the process. No 
chemicals at all. No more need of using a preservative or anything 
of that kind of butter than in any other product. The keepi-ng qual- 
ities are about the same. That is my observation so far as I have 
been able to learn. Now, the different makers of process butter all 
have different systems. It is a comparatively new idea, developed 
within the last five years, and every maker works in the dark, accord- 
ing to his own method, and he does not let any other man know what 
his methods are; but I have had a number of samples of this process 
butter analyzed, and it has, so fai-* as the component parts are con- 
cerned or been analyzed, been called pure butter; but of course there 
is a manner of detecting it, from the fact that the fats are remulsified, 
and it shows up under the microscope, so that it is very readilj^ de- 
tected so far as that is concerned. 

The Chairman. The further examination of Mr. Heller will be in 
private. The committee would like to have Professor Mitchell present. 

Mr. Heller. Does he live in the city? 

The Chairman. No. 

Mr. Heller. Where is he from? 

The Chairman. He is from Wisconsin. He is subpoenaed as an 
expert. He is employed by no one except the Government. 

Mr. Heller. He will not mention the things that I spealk about? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. l7l 

The Chairman. I will stand responsible that he will not make any 
use of your trade secrets. 

(All the representatives of the press and spectators were at this 
point excluded from the room, and the following- proceedings were had 
in the presence only of the members of the committee, Chief Chemist 
Wiley, Professor Mitchell, the witness, and the stenographer.) 



STATEMENT OF ALBERT HELLER— Recalled. 

Albert Heller resumed the stand and further testified as follows: 
Examination continued by the Chairman: 

Q. Mr. Heller, in compliance with your request, the committee has 
excluded the public and the bystanders, and the record will show as 
present Senator Harris and myself, and Dr. Wiley, the chief analyst, 
and Professor Mitchell, State analyst of Wisconsin. I will sny now 
that Professor Mitchell testified in regard to several different articles 
which were marked as manufactured by you. How many different 
articles and compounds do you manufacture as antiseptic for the 
purj)ose of i^reserving food products? — A. I believe there are three. 

The Chairman. What are they? Name the titles they go by. 

Answer. Freezine, freezem, and konservirungs-salze. 

The Chairman. Well, take the first article, freezine. It is adver- 
tised for preserving milk, cream, and buttermilk, cream puffs, ice 
cream, etc. 

Answer. It is also used for sterilizing and cleaning utensils in which 
milk is put, such as milk cans and milk bottles. 

The Chairman. What is the substance of that? 

Answer. It is a 6 per cent solution of formaldehyde. 

The Chairman. You comj)ound this yourself, do you? 

Answer. We don't manufacture the formaldehyde. We simply 
compound it. 

The Chairman. Are j^ou a chemist by profession? 

Answer. No, sir; I would not call myself that. I have studied a 
little, but I take care of the financial end of the business. 

Q. But you are familiar with this? — A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It is a 6 per cent solution of formaldehj^de? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And 94 per cent of water? 

Answer. That is not it exactly. That is it approximately. 

The Chairman. What is formaldehyde? 

Answer. Chemicallj^ it is CHOH. 

The Chairman. What is it made from? What is the base of it? 

Answer. It is made from burning alcohol and passing it over, I 
believe, heated platinum wire. I think that is one method of making 
it, isn't it, Doctor [addressing Professor Wiley]? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. From wood alcohol. 

The Witness. From wood alcohol? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Wood alcohol is converted easily into formal- 
dehyde by simply extracting the hydrogen. 

The Chairman. You are not a medical man? 

Answer. No, sir; but I have investigated in regard to these prepa- 
rations, and I have consulted with physicians and gotten their opin- 
ions, and I have read up on it, and I have some reports from scientists 
with me who have experimented with it. 



172 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You consider it, you say, as an absolutely healthy 
thing to put into milk? 

Answer. I should say it was not only perfectly harmless, but it is 
positively healthful, and especially so with infants. 

The Chairman. Why to infants? 

Answer. Infants especially are troubled with fermentation of the 
stomach. Especially is that true in summer, when the milk doesn't 
keep long. Germs get into it during the warm weather. Thej^ seem 
to increase more readily then than in the winter. This milk, being 
fed to infants, sours on the stomach very quicklj^, causing them to 
throw it up, and they get no nutrition out of it, and they very often 
get cholera infantum, which seems to be a disease which is hard to 
cure by physicians, and I understand from the records that the loss 
in cases of cholera infantum is something like 70 per cent, and I 
claim that by the use of freezine this percentage of loss can be greatly 
reduced. It is being used by physicians now, and there are some here 
in the city experimenting with it. One is using it and another intends 
to experiment with it as soon as the weather gets warmer. I have a 
report here with me in a medical journal, by a physician who has 
used it on infants and uses it on himself. The object of the freezine 
is to control and retard the increase of bacteria in the milk. It is 
not used in sufficient quantity to kill the bacteria. It is simply to 
control and retard them. 

Senator Harris. If there was sufficient put in to kill the bacteria, 
would that render it harmful? 

Answer. No, sir. I know of a case here in the city where a physi- 
cian gave to a patient, a woman, a 40 per cent solution to use for dis- 
infecting — I think bandages — and I don't know what the woman was 
going to take — she was going to take some medicine internall}^ and 
accidentally took two teaspoonf uls of the 40 per cent solution. It 
burned her the same as mustard would, or anything of that sort. 
She immediately took something to make her vomit, and b}^ the time 
the doctor came the burning sensation had all gone, and there were 
no ill effects whatever. The following day she went down shopping, 
as though nothing had occurred. That was two teaspoonfuls of a 40 
per cent solution. 

The Chairman. Still, would it not be possible for long-continued 
use of it to produce an effect 

Answer. No, sir; there is such a very small quantity used that it is 
healthful in that proi)ortion. 

The Chairman. Where do you purchase your formaldehyde? 

Answer. Excuse me, but what is the object of putting that in? 

The Chairman. Well, I want to know where it is made. 

Answer. It is imported. It is not made in this country. 

The Chairman. I don't care to know the particular place you buy 
it from. 

Answer, Oh, I didn't understand you. 

The Chairman. All I want to get at is where it is made. 

Answer. It isn't made in this country at all that I know of. I am 
pretty sure it isn't. I think it is all imported. 

The Chairman. That which you buy is imported? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. What is its general use? What is it made for? 

Answer. Well, I can't answer what it is made for, but it is used 
for a good many purposes. 



ADULTERATION OP FOOD PRODUCTS. 173 

The Chairman. Is it used generally as a disinfectant or an anti- 
septic? 

Answer. Yes; it is used as a disinfectant. It is used for keeping 
botanical specimens, isn't it, Doctor, sometimes? [Addressing Dr. 
Wiley.] 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. 

The Chairman. For preserving botanical specimens? 

Dr. Wiley. For preserving fruits and vegetables for exhibition in 
jars — in formaldehyde instead of water. 

Professor Mitchell. It does not affect their natural colors so much 
as alcohol. 

The Witness. It can be used in beer in the proportion of 1 to 50,000. 

The Chairman. AYhat? 

Answer. In the proportion of 1 to 50,000. That, I suppose, would 
be hardh^ a trace. 

Senator Harris. You say it can be used in beer? 

Answer. Yes, sir. I can't saj that it is used in beer, however. 

Senator Harris. Why do you use tlie word " can?" 

Answer. It is recommended for that by chemists. 

Senator Harris. It would have a beneficial effect in retarding fer- 
mentation? 

Answer. That is the object of it; j^es, sir. In fact, I presume that 
both the doctors here know that there is a preservative used in beer. 

The Chairman. Yes; we have heard of it. That is some other acid. 

Professor Mitchell. Salicylic acid used to be used. This is a new 
compound, and has lately come into- a great deal of prominence — this 
particular one. 

The Witness. If you will permit me to, I wish to state this : It is a 
well-known fact that germs thrive very readily in milk. It seems 
that milk with a small quantity of germs taken into the stomach does 
not have the effect that it does when it is old and has a great many 
germs in it. If these germs can be retarded — if the growth of the 
germs can be retarded and controlled to any extent — it improves the 
milk and makes it more healthful. 

Senator Harris. How long have you been manufacturing this prep- 
aration? 

Answer. This is the third year. 

Senator Harris. Have you watched any experiments made? You 
say that some physicians have made experiments. 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have some reports here, if you care to see them. 

Senator Harris. Yes ; I would be glad to hear what the opinion of 
physicians is. 

Answer. I have quite a few reports here, not alone concerning for- 
maldehyde, but concerning boracic acid [producing same]. I can 
verify my statements. I can bring in a physician who has used it 
internally and prescribes it in milk for infants, and he has even rec- 
ommended it to one of his colleagues, and he knows absolutely that 
the use of formaldehyde is 

Senator Harris. Is this his report [indicating]? 

Answer. No, sir; this is the report of another physician [handing 
the same to the Senator] . I had better read it. 

The Chairman. You can leave it with the stenographer, so he can 
copy it in. 

(The report referred to is in the words and figures following:) 

The Witness. The quantity, the doctor has taken is probably fifteen 
to twenty times as much as we prescribe. 



174 ADULTER ATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. Mr. Heller, if this is a valuable thing, and healtny, 
and without any injurious effect used in the way you recommend it, 
why should it be concealed in anj^ way? 

Answer. I don't think it should. I think it ought to be recom- 
mended, and I think that physicians should use it. 

Senator Harris. In your circulars with reference to it 

Answer. Oh, I see what you mean. Why, there are some States 
which have laws prohibiting the use of preservatives. I presume they 
mean powders. I don't know what tliey mean. I don't know whether 
powders come under the head of adulterants, but they prohibit the 
use of adulterants. Now, this, in a sense, can not be called an adul- 
terant, because there is so little in it, and it being in a gaseous form 
it is suppcfsed to evaporate. 

Senator Harris. Neither increasing the weight nor the bulk nor 
the quantity? 

Answer. There is half a teaspoonful used, of the 6 per cent solution, 
in 10 gallons of milk, and that quantity is so small that it is practi- 
cally nothing. 

Senator Harris. Has it been used for confectioneries to any extent? 

Answer. No, sir; very little. 

Senator Harris. I see you recommend it for ice cream and for cream 
puffs. 

Answer. Yes; but that is really only lately that we have recom- 
mended it for that. 

Senator Harris. You don't know of its being used, in fact? 

Answer. Oh, there may be a very few. I don't know. There may 
be a few who use it, but none that I know of that are using it. 

Senator Harris. The quantity you prescribe is greater in these cases 
than simply in milk? 

Answer. Yes; but even so, it is a verj^ small proportion and far 
smaller than the amount the doctor took there for a week, a great deal 
smaller. This is a 6 per cent solution, while that which the doctor 
took was 40 per cent — seven times as strong. 

Senator Harris. There is a great difference in the use of a thing as 
a food which, perhaps, is of daily use and long-continued use and the 
use of a thing in larger quantity as a medicine for a short time? 

Answer. Very true; but supjDose it were used wath cream puffs. 
A man doesn't eat cream puffs every day in the week. He will eat 
them two or three times a month, and in that quantity there is so 
small a quantity of formaldehyde that there is almost none. There- 
fore, that small quantity would, if anything, be beneficial. Now, I 
certainly would prefer to drink milk that is sweet, that has f ormalde- 
hj^de in it in the proportion which we j)rescribe, and know that I am 
drinking wholesome milk, than to take milk which is stale and full 
of germs, and may contain disease germs at that. It may contain 
germs which give off the poison called tyrotoxicon, and also ptomaine 
germs. Now, milk that is pure and free from germs, or which may con- 
tain only a small amount, not enough to affect the milk, is certainly 
more healthful than milk which is filled with germs and which is stale 
and on the verge of putrefaction. It may look and taste all right, but 
still it maj^ have very many germs in it. 

Senator Harris. A thing may be bad and yet something worse may 
be found? 

Answer. I don't know what you mean. 

Senator Harris. I say this may be bad and yet something worse 
may be found in the actual process of decay in articles of food? 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. l75 

Answer. Yes, sir. I don't consider it bad, though, I consider it a 
good thing, 

Tlie Chairman. A drink of this would be really dangerous if any- 
one should prescribe it by accident? 

Answer. I cited a case where a woman took 2 teaspoonfuls of a 40 
per cent solution and there was no ill effect. The following day she 
went downtown shopping. It occurred right here in the city. 

The Chairman. You would not recommend it for a drink, of course? 

Answer. We don't recommend it for that. Take the preparation 
that is often used for killing i-ats, strychnine. I have taken a lot of 
it as a tonic. I would not recommend anjijody to eat 2 teaspoonfuls 
of pure mustard, either. It is a food product, however. 

The Chairman. What is this next one [referring to another exhibit 
on the table]? Is this yours? 

Answer, No, sir. 

The Chairman, What is the other one? Freezem? 

Answer, Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Is that the same practically? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. It is not the same? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. What is the basis of that? 

Answer. Wouldn't you rather finish this first [referring to free- 
zine]? 

The Chairman. Yes. I hadn't anything further to ask about this 
at present. If you have any points you want to cover, we would be 
glad to hear from jou. 

The Witness, I wish to say that if mothers who have babies would 
all of tfiem use freezine in the milk the}" feed the babies, the babies 
would not have sour stomachs and wouldn't throw up the milk, and 
would be healthier, and there would be verj' little cholera infantum. 

Senator Harris. One further question in regard to this freezine. 
That is, of course, for milkmen and dairymen, and all those people. 
That is its principal use, is it not? 

Answer. Yes. 

Senator Harris. You have been manufacturing it for three years? 

Answer. No, not for three years. We began in the fall three years 
ago, but too late to do anything. Practically, last year is about all 
we have done. 

Senator Harris, Has it gone into considerable use? 

Answer. There is not much used. There is some of it exported. 

Senator Harris. It has not been generally adopted or taken up by 
creamer}^ men? 

Answer. No, sir. It is used to some extent, but not generally. 

Senator Harris. You don't know whether it has become popular in 
that time or not? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Judging from the amount you sell, what would 
you say? 

Answer, Judging from the amount we sell, the percentage of milk- 
men who are using it is almost nothing. 

Senator Harris. In what directions have you shipj)ed, mostly? 

Answer. You mean in foreign countries? 

Senator Harris. No; here in our own country. Where do you find 
your principal trade, so far, for it? 



176 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. Well, I suppose in the East, because we advertise it more 
there. 

Senator Harris. I simijly wanted to get something which would give 
us the points we are after — where we could ascertain from the people 
who have used it what they have observed as to its effects. 

Answer. I think there is almost none used in this city. If there is 
any used here, it is a very small quantity. It is used in the East. 

Senator Harris. In New York State? 

Answer. Yes. 

Senator Harris. And by dairymen? 

AnsAver. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. And bj^ the creamery men who make butter, is it 
used at all? 

Answer. No. We liave recommended it for that lately, but it has 
not been used for tliat. 

Senator Harris. Do you think it would have a beneficial effect in 
increasing the keeping qualities of butter? 

Answer, Yes, sir; it would. I don't think it has been used for that 
at all. Boracic acid is used for that. 

The Chairman (addressing Professor Wilej^). Do you wish to ask 
any questions, Professor Wiley? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I don't think so. 

The Witness. There are some things that I wish to speak of. I 
can't recall them all just now, but there is one that I think of now 
that I wish to speak about. Milk bottles are left at a house and from 
there often taken into a sick room and left there, where there may 
be scarlet fever or some other disease, and, as I said before, the 
germs thrive very readily in milk, a^nd these disease germs get onto 
and into the bottles. They are taken back by the milkman and 
washed with warm water, and the germs still remain there. The bot- 
tles are filled uj) again and taken to the next house, and there is 
great danger of infection in that manner. If freezine is used in the 
washing water it will prevent this. Of course it will have to be used 
in a great deal stronger proportion than we prescribe it for milk, and 
for that purpose it would also be an excellent preparation and ought 
to be recommended. 

Senator Harris. That is, definitely as an antiseptic? 

Answer. Yes, sir; in stronger proportions. 

The Chairman. There are many antiseptics which would perform 
the same service? 

Answer. Not any that I know of. Carbolic acid could not be used 
owing to its taste. Corrosive sublimate would be poisonous. The 
statements that I made I can substantiate by practicing physicians 
who are well known here, whom I have spoken with, and whose opin- 
ion I have got, and I claim, in the proportion in which we prescribe 
freezine, it is absolutely healthful, and if used universally it would 
be a good thing. 

Senator Harris. Has it ever been, in such cases and for such pur- 
poses as that, brought to the attention of the health officers of this 
or any other State? 

Answer. No ; not directly to them ; no, sir. We advertise it, though, 
right in that book there [indicating] . 

Senator Harris, You don't know M^hether they would approve of 
it or not? 

Answer. Well, no, sir, I don't ; but I should think they would, because 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 177 

thej' cau readily understand that the statnient I make is true — that 
it has such an eiTect. 

The Chairman. There is that freezem. What is that made of? 

Answer. Do you wish the composition of all the preparations? 

The Chairman. Yes, sir. If you don't want to give them, though, 
I shall not make any effort to compel you, as far as I am at present 
advised. 

Answer. I will tell you in regard to freezem; I don't know as I care 
to give it. Just wait a minute. You need not put that down [address- 
ing the stenographer]. 

The Chairman. Take time to think it over. You can consult your 
counsel. 

Answer. I haven't taken any counsel on anything here. I simply 
came up here to tell you this of my own accord. 

The Chairman. I have no doubt in the world that you could be 
compelled to answer questions. I don't want you to think we have 
any feeling of doubt about that — that we don't believe we have the 
power; but there is no disposition to use that power in compelling 
you to answer. 

Answer. I don't want to hold anything back from you at all, but I 
don't want to give anything out in public that is going to injure our 
business. 

The Chairman. We appreciate that. If your business is legitimate 
it shall not be injured by anj^thing we say or do. 

The Witness. I certainly consider it legitimate, because the prepa- 
rations we use are used in medicines and are healthful. 

The Chairman. I have no doubt you consider them so. The ques- 
tion is whether it is so or not. 

The Witness. I take that from statistics and rejDorts which I have. 

The Chairman. The final determination of the question, so far as 
the committee is concerned, will be left with the Senate to decide. 

The Witness. I think scientists ought to be consulted and experi- 
ments made to find out which preservatives are harmful and which 
are not. 

The Chairman. That is what we are doing here now. 

The Witness. And those that are harmless ought to be used. They 
are a good thing, and I will tell you which we use, but I wouldn't like 
to designate exactly what preparations they are, because, as I under- 
stand, this report will be published in time, and if you permit the use 
of some of these preparations it might in time injure us. 

The Chair'mam. If we what? 

Answer. If you x^ermit the use of some of these chemicals which we 
use, why it would injure us later on, if I were to state what these 
chemicals are used for — that is, in what preparations certain chemi- 
cals are found. For instance, if I say that freezem is a certain prep- 
aration, and you permit the use of it, then, later on, if anybody wants 
to know what freezem is, he can look it up. 

Senator PIarris. You have no objection to stating what the princi- 
pal ingredient is. 

Answer, Yes; I would. But I will tell j^ou what I would like to do 
is to speak about the chemicals which we use for preservatives and 
not mention any preparations they are used in. 

Chief Chemist WiLEY. I would sug4gest that there will be no trou- 
ble, in case the committee wanted to know that, to submit it to a 
chemist for examination. 
F P 12 



178 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Witness. Certainly. As far as you are eoueerned — I don't 
want this to go into my statement 

Professor Mitchell. I testified tlie other day that the principal 
ingredient was sodium sulphite. You didn't hear that testimony; so 
I thought I might ease your mind on that one point. 

The Witness. I don't care to have that come from me. You can 
say it, if you desire. Now, talking about sodium sulphite; it is 
used in medicine to cure sores in the mouth — -canker sores — and it is 
also given for fermentation of the stomach, three times a day, in 
ciuantities of approximately 4 grams for each dose, or about 60 grains 
three times per day. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is a salt of sodium. It is sulphurous acid, 
common sodium with sulphurous acid — that is, the fumes of burning 
sulphur. 

The Witness. In the preparation in which we prescribe it it is 2 
ounces to 100 pounds of meat, which is 8f grains to 1 pound of meat, 
A man with a very hearty appetite could not eat more than half a 
pound of meat, and in that he would get 4 grains, while it is prescribed 
by phj^sicians to be taken three times a day, GO grains each time. 
Now, this is used in reallj^ onlj- one kind of meat, and that is chopped 
beef and hamburger steak. I don't think that a man eats hamburger 
steak more than two or three times a month. Now, a man eating 
hamburger steak three times a month, even though he should eat half 
a pound at a time — he wouldn't eat more than a quarter of a pound 
at a time — he would get 2 grains each time, which, for a month, would 
make 6 grains. The dose by physicians is GO grains three times a 
day. The object of using a preservative in chopped beef 

The Chairman. You don't care to say wliether that is in it or not? 

Answer. No. 

The Chairman. But it is in the powdered form? 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is a powder. The object of using sodium sul- 
phite in chopped beef is to preserve it, to give it a nice color, and it 
will keep longer than if it did not have anything on. If it didn't have 
anything on it would spoil over night. 

Senator Harris. Well, can you take meats which are partially 
spoiled 

Answer, No, sir. 

Senator Harris (continuing). And correct them in any waj^? 

Answer. No, sir; anj^thing that is spoiled is spoiled, and you can't 
correct it — anj- meats. 

Senator Harris. I mean it can not be used as a disguise or anything 
of that kind? 

Answer. No, sir; it is simply to keep fresh meat fresh. If ham- 
burger steak is allowed to remain on the counter and it has not sodium 
sulphite in it, it will become tainted, it will get sour, and it will decay 
in a very short time. Germs get on it and it begins to turn dark in 
two hours. Now, if a preservative is used, the ptomaine germs and 
other poisonous germs can be prevented, because the meat will not 
decay. Ptomaine germs seem to thrive in decaj^ed meat. I would 
prefer to eat meat with a small proportion of sodium sulphite in it — 
meat that is fresh — than to eat meat which has none in it, meat that 
IS stale or that has disease or poison germs in it; and I contend that a 
very small proportion of j^reservative in hamburger steak is absolutely 
healthful. I admit that there are preservatives which are dangerous 
to health. Salicjdic acid is one of them. We never use that. 

Senator Harris. You don't use that at all? 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD TRODUCTS. 179 

Answer. We don't Uvse it at all ; not a grain of it. 

Senator Harris. Do yon use boric acid? 

Answer. Yes, sir, we do; and I have many reports here from 
scientists and chemists and physicians on it, and I wonld like to go 
into that in detail, unless there are any questions you wish to ask me 
in regard to the sodium sulphite. 

Dr. Wiley. I am very well acquainted with those preservatives. 

The Witness. I would like to nmke a statement that there has 
been much agitation in the papers in regard to the embalmed-meat 
question. I wish to say that every one of us eats embalmed meat — and 
we know it and like it and continue to like it — and tliat is, hams and 
bacon. That is actually embalmed meat. Chemicals are used for 
curing the meats. Some use only salt and saltpeter. Some use boric 
acid and salt. The boracic acid is positivelj^ more healthy than salt- 
peter. Saltpeter has a direct effect on the kidneys, which, in some 
cases, is not beneficial. I don't know how long saltpeter has been 
used. Saltpeter has been used for curing meats, and boracic acid is 
often used in connection with it. I have been in the packing busi- 
ness, and we used salt and salti)eter, and sometimes boracic acid, for 
curing. All dry salt meat purchased by the English is required to 
be rubbed with borax or boracic acid. They will not buj^ it any 
other way. They allow the use of boracic acid to a certain degree, in 
certain proportions, and contend that it is not at all harmful when 
used in the proper proportions; in fact, that it is beneficial. And 
for that reason it is my opinion that boracic acid ought to be allowed 
to be used in certain quantities. There are many food products 
which require a preservative. They could not be put on the market 
without it. 

Senator Harris. Refrigeration proves the point which you make, 
that a great many food products require some artificial preservative, 
if we can call refrigeration artificial. 

Answer. You mean that, owing to the very fact that they have to 
use refrigeration for preserving meats? 

Senator Harris. It shows that there is a necessity for preserving- 
meat. That is evidenced by refrigeration. 

Answer. That there is preservation required. 

Senator Harris. You go on the theory that refrigeration is not suf- 
ficient; that something more than that is needed? 

Answer. Yes; I will explain that. Refrigeration is used for fresh 
meats onlj-. I am talking of cured meats. However, in order to 
cure meats it is necessary to have the temperature down during the 
progress of the curing. After that the temperature may be raised 
to 50°, if necessary. In order to cure meats to keep, such as ham 
and bacon, it is absolutely necessary to use preservatives. Salt 
is a preservative, and so is saltpeter. One of the great objects in 
using boracic acid is that a mild-cuVed ham can be turned out ; a better 
cured one, with a finer flavor; the brine doesn't have to be so strong as 
it need to be without boracic acid. I answered, back there [referring 
to his testimony] — I would like to go back. There is something I 
would like to say. I can't remember what it was. 

(The stenographer read the last page or two of the testimony of the 
witness, and at the conclusion of the lengthy answer just preceding 
the questions by Senator Harris regarding refrigeration, the witness 
stated he desired to insert as follows:) 

The Witness. As it-is necessary to use preservatives in many foods, 
I think that certain chemicals, if found to be harmless, should be per- 



180 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

mitted to be used. In fact, it is neeessaiy. In other words, certain, 
food prodncts can not be put ui3on tlie marl?:et, and it will affect to a 
great extent nearly all of the manufacturers of food products. If you 
would like to, I can leave these j)apers with the stenographer and he 
can put these in his records. They are reports from chemists, physi- 
cians, and scientists. I think it would be well to put them in. 
The Chairman. That is all right. You may leave them. 
(The articles and reports referred to are attached to the testimony 
of this witness. ) 

Senator Harris. Tliei-e is one question I would like to ask you, as 
you spoke of having been a packer of meats arid so on. These modern 
processes which consist in the introduction of other things than salt 
and saltpeter, are they not more desirable on account of the hastening 
of the curing of the meat than because it is better cured? 

Answer. Well, I will tell you. In advertising our goods we say so, 
but it takes just as long. The only thing is 3^ou can turn out a milder- 
cured ham. Without it it would be necessary to use a very strong 
salted brine, and the meat would be dry and hard and salty and have 
a very poor flavor. The salt reallj^ burns the meat. That is the 
expression used b}^ packers. 

Senator HARRIS. In the so-called smoking of meats that in the old- 
fashioned way required a very considerable time of the actual appli- 
cation of smoke. That is done away with by the modern packers, is 
it not? 

Answer. No, sir; meats are smoked to-day the same as they always 
were, and the object is simply to give them a flavor and color, and 
not to cure them. 

Senator Harris. I thought that- was giv(?n by washes of certain 
substances — creosote and some others. 

Answer. That is done with pyroligneous acid, which is the same 
thing as smoke. It is condensed smoke. Isn't it the same thing, 
Doctor [addressing Dr. Wiley]? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is the distillation of smoke. 
The Witness. It is the same as smoke. I don't consider it a bit 
more harmful than the smoke. I don't consider it harmful at all. 

Senator Harris. I don't say that it is harmful, but whether it pen- 
etrates as thoroughly. Of course, it requires less time. 

Professor Mitchell. Would you care to tell the committee in ref- 
erence to the use of coloring matter? 
The Witness. Yes; I will come to that. 
The Chairman. What coloring matter do you use? 
Answer. I would like to make a statement about the rosaline. I 
would like to have it omitted fi-om the record, however, and if you 
will leave it out I will tell you what that statement is. 

(The witness made his statement verbally, which was, at the request 
of the chairman of the committee, not taken down stenogi-aphically 
by the reporter.) 

The Witness (continuing). The color used for sausage, for bologna 
and weiner sausage, is aniline dye. There are different kinds of 
aniline dyes. Some of these are a poison. Some are poisonous, 
because they are made with the arsenic process, and some are per- 
fectly harmless. They are not made with the arsenic process, and 
the colors themselves are not injurious. The}^ have no injurious 
effects upon the human system any more than some other coal-tar 
products, such as saccharine and vanalin. The aniline dye whicli is 
used by us is guaranteed by the manufacturers as perfectly harmless. 
Aniline dyes are used in a good many food products. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 181 

Senator Harris. Where is this special aniline dye niauufactiired, 
Mr. Heller? 

Answer. I think it is made in German}'. 

Senator Harris. It is imported? , 

Answer. Yes, sir. And I contend that aniline dyes made — what is 
the process [addressing" Dr. Wiley] — the niter process? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Aniline dyes ai*e made by combinations of 
various shapes, in various manners. The salts of aniline make dif- 
ferent colors. 

The Witness. Yes; but there is what is called the arsenic pro- 
cess 

Professor Mitchell. The better grades of colors, which are guar- 
anteed as free from arsenic, generally are not made b}^ that process. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. The arsenic formerl}^ in this was due to the 
sulphuric acid, which contained traces of arsenic. 

The Witness. The arsenic has been eliminated now, and as certain 
aniline dyes are harmless, there is no reason why the use of them 
should be prohibited. They make food products look more appetiz- 
ing. I think that should be done. AYe like to eat things that look 
nice. I don't think, though, that food should be adulterated with 
harmful preparations, but I believe that harmless preparations should 
be allowed to be used, in order to cheapen food products in certain 
cases. 

The Chairman. Don't you think that they ought to be marked, so 
that people will know if they are adulterated? 

Answer. If they are marked, the poorer classes will be afraid to 
use the goods, or they might be backward in buying them, while thej' 
can't afford to buy the higher grade of the pure goods and pay the 
price. 

The Chairman. You think it would be hai'd — the sale of salt, for 
instance — if it was marked adulterated salt? 

Answer. Certainlj^ it would. 

The Chairman. Would you call this adulterated salt or adulterated 
aniline dyes? 

Answer. I would call it a color. 

The Chairman. There is something in there besides color, is there 
not? 

Answer. When w^e get the colors, they have salt in them. They 
are cut down with salt. 

The Chairman. I don't care to go into your code of ethics. You 
think that if I made glucose I ought not to be allowed to sell it as 
honej^, had I? 

Answer. No, sir. I think that it is perfectlj^ right if I should go 
into a store and say, "Have 3'ou anj^ honey?" and they saj', "Yes." 
"W^hat is the price?" "We have some at 50 cents a pound, and we 
have some at 20 cents a pound." 

The Chairman. You think the merchant is perfectly honest who 
tells you it is honey and sells yoti glucose at 10 cents a pound? 

Answer. He would sell me glucose alone. There would be no hojiey 
in it; and I know that if I want pure honey, I can get it l)y paying the 
price; and I think that if any law is passed to mark all food products, 
it will affect the industries — ^the manufacturing industries — of food 
products verj' much indeed and do great damage to this country, and 
I think that the agitation now in food products will hurt our exports. 

The Chairman. The history of the country is just exactly the 
opposite of what you say. 

Answer. I will give you my reasons for. that. 



182 ADULTEBATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Of course if people would sell red salt for some- 
thing different from what it was, it might hurt the sale of red salt; 
but when we began inspecting butter and flour and filled cheese our 
exports immediately increased, because we have before this commit- 
tee communications from the heaviest exporters saying that the 
moment the Government took an interest in flour the exports increased 
nearly 50 i)er cent last year. Mr. Eckart so stated. 

The Witness. That may have been from some other cause. I think 
that when we agitate this food question it affects so many of the 
manufacturers — in fact, nearh^ all of them — that it is going to do an 
injur}^ because the foreign governments will believe that our foods 
are to a great extent adulterated, and they won't want to buy them. 

Senator Harris. Foreign governments have actually insisttd upon 
governmental inspection. 

The Witness. But right in the face of governmental inspection in 
the packing liouses, and right in the face of the fact that the investi- 
,gating committee rei^orted that there were no chemicals used on the 
fresh or canned meats, Germany is right now trying to pass a bill to 
prohibit our meats from being imported. 

The Chairman. They have been trying to do that for years. That 
is simply to help themselves. 

The Witness. Now that they know that the reports are not true, 
and know that our meats are being inspected by Government inspect- 
ors, the}^ still won't allow them in. 

The Chairman. That is for their own protection. 

Senator Harris. This action on the part of Germany was prior to 
the finding of the board, so far as tliat goes, was made. We have not 
gotten tliat report ourselves, in full, yet — the public hasn't. I have 
no doubt thej^ took advantage of some of the charges which were 
made. But Germany has been specially insistent upon governmental 
inspection in regard to trichinosis and various things. 

The Witness. I have read that since then they have kept it np; and 
I wish to call attention to Secretary Wilson's remarks, that the agita- 
tion in regard to meat will in time cost this country more than the 
war with Spain, owing to the injury done to the meat industry; and T 
know from my own knowledge that one of the largest plants in this 
country runs only three days in the week now, and that one of their 
salesmen who has traveled over his territory sold only 7 gross of cans, 
while heretofore on the "same trip he always sold a carload; and it 
only goes to show that this agitation injures the manufactures and 
industries of this countiy. 

Senator Harris. Is your deduction from that that the Government 
should simply keep hands oft" and take no interest in these matters? 

Answer. No, sir. I say that deleterious substances should not be 
allowed ; that they should investigate, and those they find are all right 
should he allowed ; but they should not say that no preservatives can 
be used, because the manufacturers would simply have to quit 
business. 

Senator Harris. The Government has not said that, nor does it 
contemplate it. It is only on harmful things. The general trend and 
purpose, as expressed by everybody, h.gs been to simply eliminate that 
which is harmful. 

The Witness. Yes; but it is a fact that a good many men who have 
not made it a study deep enough give opinions which are sometimes 
accepted, and therefore do harm. 

The Chairman. It is the lying about our meat that has hurt it. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 183 

The Witness. The newspapers have made so nuich about it, and 
the reporters showed up all kinds of stuff that they didn't knoM^ any- 
thing- about. 

The Chairman. AnA^tliing further that you want to say, Mr. 
Miteheliy 

Professor Mitchell. I wanted to say to Mr. Heller that part of our 
criticism of the use of such compounds as freezem is this: That the 
butchers are in the hal)it of keeping a package of that there. It is 
recommended for that purpose, and they do it in the butcher shops. 
I have seen it myself frequently; and wlien the butchers sell a cut of 
meat they trim the meat. Portions of good, clean, fresh nieat are 
cast into a barrel, and those od<ls and ends go to make up this ham- 
burger steak; and then these are preserved, as a rule, where they fol- 
low out the dn-ections on the package, by sprinkling- this salt upon 
them, and then when sufficient of these odds and ends accumulate — 
thej' are all clean and nice, cut from meat that is sold — when sufficient 
of that is procured it is ground up into steak. 

The Witness. Have j^ou seen that done? 

Professor Mitchell. Yes; I have seen that done in Milwaukee. 
The i3oint I make is that otherwise tliese men would have had to take 
these scraps and keep them in the ice box to keep them fresh, and 
after they have kept them a much shorter period of time they would 
have had to work up a small batch of them into hamburger steaks, 
rather than wait until they got plenty of it. 

The Witness. I don't want that to go in there. 

Professor Mitchell. I meant it as a statement of the abuses whicli 
follow from the use of these things. 

The Witness. I will tell you why I would not like to have that go 
into the record. If a butcher does wrong, that isn't my fault. 

Professor Mitchell. I don't mean to have that as a part of your 
record. 

The Witness. Could I have that eliminated? Of course, I have 
never seen that done, and the butcher isn't supposed to do it. He is 
to- blame. He should use nothing but fresh meats. 

Professor Mitchell. Is it necessary to use any preservative in 
fresh meats? 

Answer. Yes, sir. As I explained in regard to hamburger steak. 
I explained that it begins to turn dark within two hours, which is just 
because of the germs from the air. 

Senator Harris. It is fresh meat. 

Answer. No, sir; it isn't fresh meat wlien it begins to turn stale. 

Professor Mitchell. I said it would prevent it from turning stale 
if this salt was sprinkled upon it. 

The AViTNESS. I understood you to sa}^ the meat was stale when 
they trimmed it off. 

Professor Mitchell. Oh, no. I said that these trimmings are often 
placed aside. They are kept until plenty accumulates. 

The Witness. In regard to that, they can accumulate for an hour, 
or for a day, or a da^y and a half. Packers use only trimmings in 
sausage, as far as that is concerned. 

Professor Mitchell. That was the onlj^ point. 

The Witness. I would not like to have in there right after my 
testimony — can I have that eliminated? 

The Chairman. That has notliingto do willi your evidence. 

The W^iTNESS. I wish to state, tlien, that the butcher is to blame for 
that, and I don't think that the butcher allows nis meat to accumulate 



184 ADULTEEATION OB^ FOOD PKODUCTS. 

more than probably half a day when he uses it up; and if he uses a 
little freezem according- to the quantity prescribed, why the meat is 
all right. It won't hurt it at all if it is kept in a box for half a daj'', 
if necessary, or even more; but he wouldn't let it lie outside all night. 

Professor jVIitchell. The compound used in the specific instanea 
which I had in my mind was not freezem, but it was a certain chemical 
sold by another manufacturer. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I want to make a statement to the commit- 
tee in regard to the testimony, and that is this: If j'ou will remember, 
when I was on the stand I testified that I believed in innocent pre- 
servatives; that there were certain food products in which they were 
necessary, and that I believed that in a proper use and way thej^ were 
not injurious to health; but what I want to say here is to call atten- 
tion to what I said there, and that is this : That each preservative 
should be used under its proper name. If Mr. Heller will excuse me 
for this, because it is simply my record and not liis, the trouble with 
these is the fraud upon the public by using a cheap substance, a very 
cheap substance, under a name that the people don't know, and sell- 
ing it for an immense profit. 

The Witness. I would like to answer in regard to that. 

Chief Cliemist WiLEY. That is what I brought out in my first 
testimon3\ 

The Chairman. That is what you said before. You said you would 
not oj^pose the use of preservatives. 

Chief Chemist AViLEY. On the contrarj^ I should favor the use of 
preservatives — and this is an excellent preservative for certain pur- 
poses, and, as explained hy Mr. Heller, I don't see how, in the small 
quantity which he recommends, it could be injurious to health; and 
doubtless it is a good remedy. In certain diseased conditions it may 
prove beneficial. I don't want to combat that testimony at all. 
What I say is that even a remedy should not be used under a name 
in which it is not known. It should have its proper name and be 
properly understood by everybody using it. 

Senator Harris. Take, for example, this statement: "Freezine is a 
liquid gas made from vegetable materials, and is used as a substitute 
for ice." 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is liquid when it is liquid, and it is a gas 
when it is a gas. This is a solution of a gas in water, the same as 
any other gas. A liquid is a liquid. 

The Witness. I considered using that word, but, as the words 
"liquid air" were used, I thought it would be all right to use it. 

Professor Mitchell. One of the claims made on this label is tliat 
it evades detection. That was the i^oint I wanted to bring out. 
Would that, in your opinion, be an advantage? 

Answer. No, I do not consider that an advantage. Yes, to a cer- 
tain extent it is. 

Senator Harris. Did you mean that the quantity wOuld be inap- 
preciable!:' 

Answer. Yes, sir. It goes to show that the quantity is so small that 
it is hardly even a trace — can't be found. 

The Chairman. In other words, you need not be afraid to use it, 
because they can not detect it. 

The Witness. What I meant to convey is that it goes to show 
what a very small quantity is used. 

The Chairman. If you wish to come before the committee again at 
any time, you are welcome to do so. So far as these documents are 
concerned, for the use of the newspapers, they will not be used. No 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 185 

one here present will give away any of the information you have 
stated to us about your business. It goes into tlie record, however. 

The Witness. I have also spoken in general, not alone of our 
business. I have spoken of preservatives wliich we don't use. 

The Chairman. I understand, but you have stated your evidence 
just as it is; and, just as Senator Harris stated, it will not be used or 
given to the i)ublic only as it becomes a part of the record in this case 
before the Senate. It may be printed if the Senate orders it printed, 
and it may be used as the basis of a report when we take up this 
whole subject. You are not the only one engaged in manufacturing 
antiseptics. 

The Witness. There are very many in it; very many in the busi- 
ness. 

The Chairman. And we started out to get all the information that 
we could without injuring anj'body else's legitimate business. 

The Witness. I heard some remarks in regard to pickles. I 
should certaini}'^ advise that such methods be stopped, if they use 
sulphate of copper and keep it in copper kettles, etc. 

The Chairman. The Senate asked us to inquire what food adulter- 
ants were deleterious to health and what adulterants were merely 
frauds. 

The Witness. In case there should be anything that I care to 
report, would it be all right for me to w^rite it and send it to youV 
' The Chairman. Yes. 

The Witness. I may think of something else later. 

There is one thing I wish to put in, and that is the statement that 
the State of Ohio allows the use of formaldehyde in milk. I have a 
letter to that effect — not from the commissioner, but from a dealer 
who si^oke to the commissioner, and the commissioner said 

Senator Harris. It was reported to j^ou in that way. 

Answer. Yes. Do j'ou care to see the letter? 

Senator Harris. You may give it to the stenographer. 

(The letter in question is hereto attached, marked "Exhibit A.") 

Exhibit A. 

[Copy of letter on letter head of '"The Athens Exile, .Jersey Herd."] 

Athens, Ohio, June Jf, ISDS, 
Gentlemen: Please favor me with a sample of '• Freezine," or advise me positively 
if there is any salicylic acid in it. 

If the preserving property is formaldehyde, our dairy and food commissioner 
can see no objection to its use, but salii-ylic acid is a violation of our food laws, 
he claims. 

Yours, truly, 

E. G. SiLvus. 
Messrs. Burnap & Burnap. 

Toledo. 



Exhibit B to Testimony of A. Heller. 

In the October issue of The Bulletin of Pharmacy, Vol. XI, No. 10, on page 
439. appears the following: 

"formaldehyde as a preservative of milk. 

"Prof. J. N. Hurty does not share the misgivings which have been expressed lest 
the use of this antiseptic provoke dyspepsia. He states (American Druggist): 
'For a child affected with marked indigestion, obviously due to fermentation, I 
recently recommended that cow's milk be treated immediately after being taken 
from the animal with 5 drops of 40 per cent solution of formaldehyde to each quart 



186 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and that the child be fed with the milk thus treated. Two weeks' trial of pas- 
teurized milk h'id not brought relief. Within ten days after commencing the use 
of the f ormol-milk a decided improvement was apparent. Its continuation resulted 
in complete cessation of the symptoms. Now, after a ten weeks' trial, with two 
intermissions, which admonished a return to formol-milk, the child is in excellent 
condition. LTpon the principle that it is best to do without all substances of this 
character when not actually needed, the formol has been discontinued, and the 
strength gained while using it has so far (six days) sufficed to contend against the 
influences which were before prominent. The most careful examination fails to 
discover that any stomach or bowel lesion exists. If a " lifelong dyspepsia " should 
very soon begin, it would not be entirely unfair to conclude that the formaldehyde 
was caustic to a considerable degree, although acute indigestion undoubtedly 
existed prior to its exhibition. 

"FORMALDEHYDE IN ACID INDIGESTION. 

•• 'Being cursed myself occasionallj' with acid indigestion, I have used formal- 
dehyde as a preventive of the fermentatio?! which causes the acidity with most 
excellent results. Whenever the acid condition develops I immediately abandon 
all foods except milk, and this I take, drinking it slowly, after adding to each 8 
ounces 10 drops of 40 per cent solution of formaldehyde. The results have been 
excellent; and although I have taken the agent in this way many times during 
the last year and a half, only the most desirable effects have been observed. For 
one w: ek, as experiment, I took three times a day, after meals, 4 ounces of milk 
containing 5 drops of 40 per cent formaldehyde solution. Not the least untoward 
result at the time or since has been noted." " 

In an issue of Merck's Market Report, dated September 1, 1896, on page 459, 
appears the following: 

' • FORMALDEHYDE AS A PRESERVATIVE. 

"C. N. McS. — Formaldehyde is a stable aqueous solution of formic aldehyde gas 
(RCOH). It is a colorless, volatile fluid, of a pungent odor, clearly miscible with 
Avater in every proportion. Besides as a foi^id preservative (for wines, beer, jellies, 
preserves, etc.) formaldehyde lias been recommended as a nonirritating, nontoxic 
surgical and general antiseptic (in wounds, abscesses, etc.. for clothing, bed 
lin II, sick chambers, etc.), and as a preservative of collyria and anatomical and 
botanical specimens. 

" According to Dr. Berloiz (Nouv. Rem., 1892), formaldehyde is perfectly harm- 
less to man. Dr. Rideal states that he has frequentlj' drank a 1 per cent solution 
without any ill effects. In a paper read before the Society of Public Analysts, 
London, on May 1, 1895, Dr. Rideal further states that 1 ounce of formaldehyde 
solution is used in the trade to do the same work as 5 pounds of the usual Doric- 
acid and borax mixture (To per cent of the former and 2.") per cent of the latter). 
In the case of milk, for instance, the quantity of formaldeliyde necessary to pi'e- 
serve it is, according to Dr. Rideal, so small that it is absolutely impossible to 
detect its presence by the taste or smell, even on boiling, when the formaldehyde 
passes off as a gas. In liquids, such as beer, formaldehyde has to compete with 
sujphiles; here again, the quantity necessary to effect perservation is much smaller 
than the equivalent weight of sulphurous acid, audit can not be detected by taste 
or smell, although when sulphites are used it is frequently possible to notice them 
in this way. According to Jablin Gomnet, for preserving wine, 1 part of formal- 
dehyde (ason the market) to2, 000,000 suffices: for beer, 1 : ] ,000,000; for fruit jellies, 
1:10,000. But from the reported innocuousni ss of formaldehyde, it may be 
inferred that these proportions can be safely exceeded, if necessary. 

"Formaldehyde has a peculiar affinity for cellulose, thereby permanently retain- 
ing the latter in an antiseptic condition. After several days' contact with fruit 
or vegetable fiber the formaldehyt'e disappears as such and can no longer be 
detected by the methods of testing now in vogue. 

"Cn adding formaldehyde to food products prepared by hot process a .small 
portion of the formaldehyde gas is apt to be eliminated; but this may be prevented 
by taking ;i small ([uantity of the warm food product, a. lowing it to cool some- 
what, then adding to it the required quantity of formaldehyde, and stirring the 
mixture into the entire batch of material to be preserved. 

" Formaldehyd solution is not eligible as a preservative of products that come 
into contact with iron, or whose color is due to the iron they contain — e. g., rasp- 
berries and strawberries. In such cases formaldehyde produces a purplish 
coloration. 

" It appears from the aboA^e that formaldehyde is a valuable preservative, being 
at once powerful, innocuous, and convenient." 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 187 

May 11, 18i)9— 10.45 a. m. 
The committee met pursnant to adjonrnment. 
Present, the chairman and Senator Harris. 

STATEMENT OF HENRY G. PIFIFARD. 

Henry G. Piffard, being first diily sworn, testified as follows 
Examination by the Chairman: 

Q. Will yon please state your name, residence, and occupation? — A. 
Henry G. Piffard, M. D., New York City. I am a physician. 

Q. In addition to your profession, Doctor, have you any connection 
with anj' manufacturing- company or establishment? — A. Yes, sir; I 
am interested in the manufacture of salt. 

Q. We will be glad to have you make any statement in regard to 
your observations or conclusions concerning the adulteration of food 
products. — A. As a matter of common report, and as a matter of per- 
sonal knowledge, I know that many food j)roducts are adulterated 
very largely. The questions which have interested me more particu- 
larly, Mr. Senator, are the best means of preventing these adultera- 
tions. Of course, we are aware that there is certain legislation in the 
different States which more or less effectively or more or less ineffi- 
cientlj^ covers the ground. The question which I believe your com- 
mittee has to consider is as to the desirability of national enactments 
on the subject. I suppose your committee also i)roposes to determine 
the limits of the powers of Congress in respect to it. 

From what little knowledge I have of Congressional powers, the 
powers of Government, I do not believe that any enactments by Con- 
gress will be sufficiently comprehensive, assuming that they are con- 
stitutional, to remedy all evils; but I believe that Congi-ess should 
authorize an investigation into various of the food products that are 
offered for sale in this country, whether manufactured in this countrj' 
or imported; that other legislation, going as far as national authority 
will permit, should be enacted, and that, with that as a basis and as 
a general guide, the State legislatures could supplement the acts of 
Congress by effective local laws. The effectiveness, of course, will 
depend upon the intelligence and honesty of the legislators. A legis- 
lator may be honest, but not sufficiently intelligent to detect imper- 
fections in a bill put in purposely by those who are opposed to the bill 
in a general waj^ The carrying out or eft'ective carrying out of pre- 
ventive measures will rest rather with the States than through any 
action initiated by the General Government; but the enactments of 
the General Government would j)rove a guide to the State legislatures. 
It seems to me that Congress should authorize a commission to deter- 
mine what may be considered adulterants, whether harmful as regards 
the public health or as fraudulent as regards the pockets of the 
consumers. 

Many adulterated articles are perfectly innocent as regards health, 
but a re arrant frauds. The mixing of corn meal with wheat meal no one 
can complain of on sanitarj^ grounds, but if I desire to purchase a 
pure wheat flour and am furnished with a mixture thereof, I am 
defrauded, and there should be some provision which would jDrevent 
that. I think that wherever a mixture of two wholesome substances 
is offered as being a pure article, it should be punished; but I would 
not, under any circumstances, prevent the mixing of two harmless 



l50 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

substances, provided tne nature of the composition of them was indi- 
cated on their label or on their advertisement, or in some other way, 
so that the public might know what the}'' were buying. I may say, 
incidentally, that as a salt manufacture ' I offer one brand of salt which 
is not pure, which is mixed, but it is mixed with cornstarch, in a 
small proportion, and the fact that it is mixed with cornstarch is 
stated on the label. So, if a man chose to buy pepper mixed with any 
cereal flour of any sort, he should be at liberty to do so, but the label 
should indicate what he is bujing, and should not indicate that he is 
buying pure pepper. There are those who do not like to use as a con- 
diment pure mustard. In fact, we rarely get it. So mustard mixed 
with a certain proportion of carbohydrate is not objectionable if it is 
so stated. The English people, as you are doubtless aware, have had 
a good deal of trouble over this question of mustard — the question 
whether the artificial coloring of it should be permitted. Well, it is 
permissible to a certain extent, and I see no objection to it so long as 
it is stated on the label, and I see no objection to any other food prod- 
uct being colored, provided the genuine ingredients are stated. If 
a mustard with a certain quantity of turmeric in it is more attractive 
to the eye, let the peof»le have it, but let it be stated that it is a mix- 
ture of mustard and starch or turmeric, in such and such propor- 
tions. Now, a great deal of legislation which Congress, I think, should 
enact could be copied en bloc into State legislation, with such addi- 
tional measures, especially as regards the penalties, as the several 
States might see fit to enact. 

Those, Mr. Chairman, appear to me to be the general principles of 
a government inquiry of this sort. 

The Chairman. Well, Doctor, what definite information can you 
give, from your observation and experience, as to, first, the harmful 
or deleterious adulterants, and, next, as to those which are simply 
fraudulent? 

Answer. Let us take, for instance, beer. That is a question upon 
which a good deal of controversy^ might arise, but my own views on 
that subject are definite and decided. I believe that beer made from 
barlej^ malt, with hops, with yeast, of course, as a necessar}" ingre- 
dient, and water, is, in the main, a wholesome drink for healthy people, 
and sometimes a useful drink for people who are ill; but I believe 
(and in that belief I feel very positive) that beer made from corn 
products and beer made from rice is not wholesome. The chemists 
will tell 3^ou that the chemical differences between the products of 
barley malt and products of corn and rice are insignificant, and 
there is no reason why corn beer should not be as wholesome as 
barle}^ beer. Now, chemists have done that who are certainly as 
much entitled to their opinion as I am to mine, and I do not know of 
any reason why beer made from corn products should not be as 
wholesome as that made from barley products, but I do not believe it 
is, and I believe it is distinctlj^ injurious as it is made. 

The Chairman. You base that opinion upon the result of youi- 
observations as a physician? 

Answer. As a physician and observations upon myself. I can 
drink a i3ure beer, that has been properly kept, and drink it in rea- 
sonable amount, without any immediate ill effect. If I take one of 
the other beers which I regard as improper beers, I feel the effect 
from it right away. There is one other point as regards beer. We 
all know that a whisky that is new is not commonly regarded as 
wholesome. So I believe that a beer that is new is not wholesome. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 189 

The Government already protects the consumer, in great measure, 
against new whisky, by allowing the whisky to remain in bond for 
three years, I believe, or something of that sort, without compelling 
tlie tax to be paid, so that tliere is an encouragement to keep wliisky 
at least three years before it goes to the consumer. That, as far as I 
am aware, is not so with beer, and a great deal of the beer which is 
offered for sale is beer which has not been kept as long as it should 
be. It has not been fully matured. And I believe that a new beer, 
or a new ale — and when I say beer I cover all of the 

The ChairMxVN. All of the malt liquors? 

Answer. All of the malt liquors as injurious — much more so than 
a beer which has been sufficiently and ];)roperly matured. 

The Chairman. Well, Doctor, have you any means of knowing, by 
investigation, anything as to the quantit}- of these injurious beers, 
what proportion they bear to the total beer consumption':' 

Answer. Well, I am familiar only with the beers in New York, to a 
limited extent with imported beers, and to a limited extent with beer 
brought into New York State from other States. What I give you 
now I will give j'ou as my general impression from my experience. 
Up to within a few j^ears, we will say five, I hardl}^ think that a glass 
of what I would regard as wholesome beer could be bought in New 
York City brcAved in the State of New York. I once, myself, several 
years ago, suffered very severely from improper beer, but daring the 
past five years one ])rewer after another has been making and selling 
a beer which I believe to be wholesome. Some of these brewers — I 
have two in mind — make only a beer which I should regard as a f)ropei' 
standard beer. There are several others, however, who make a stand- 
ard beer, but also make a beer — and when I say standard I mean a 
proj)er beer — [addressing the stenographer] please correct that. 
There are several others who make both a proper beer and an improper 
beer. Now, there are two difficulties in the way of pure-beer legisla- 
tion in this country. 

The Chairman. Excuse me. Before you enter upon that branch 
of the subject I wish to ask you. Are your impressions with regard to 
the character of beer derived from chemical analysis'? 

Answer. No, sir; from the physiological effects. 

The Chairman. Simply from the eff'eet of the beer upon the system? 

Answer. Yes, sir; although I have made some chemical analyses in 
my life, andpnce, twenty-five or thirty years ago, I wrote a little book 
on chemistry. Yet I am not a professional chemist. 

The Chairman. Your means of observation as to the ett'ect upon 
the system would not enable you to determine whether it was a beer 
made from rice or from corn, would it? 

Answer. No; but it is x^vetty well understood what beers are made 
from- 

The Chairman. General information is what governs you in regard 
to these two articles? 

Answer. Yes; and in some instances I have been aware, through 
analyses made by others, of the composition of the beers in question. 
I was about to state that to my mind there are two difficulties in the 
way of an efficient pure-beer legislation. In the first place, there was 
a document issued from one of the departments of the United States 
(Tovernment wliich rather favored the use of what I consider improper 
ingredients in beer; a document which I think wiser legislation will 
su]) press. Secondly, the general public j) refer, as a matter of taste, 



190 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

tlie improper beer to the proper. There is a very .iri'ave difficulty 
encountered. 

The Chairman. Still you say that certain l)rewers, within a fe\v 
years jjast, have manufactured what yon call a proper beer? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That was in response to a demand, I sujipose. 

Answer. Possibly it was in response to a demand. The first firm 
that started that did it, I believe, from higher motives than that. 
They made a pure beer because they were unwilling to make an 
improjjer beer, and that beer was a very fine beer, and many people 
like it and many i^eople t) refer it; but the great mass of the peoj)le in 
ISJ'ew York City — I don't know anything about anywhere else — will, 
if the choice is before them of the two classes of beer, select for their 
drink the improper beer, on account of the pleasantness of flavor, or 
for some other reason. 

The Chairman. Habit, i^erhaps. 

Answer. Habit, perhaps; they select the improper beer. 

The Chairman. They become accustomed to the continued use of 
what you call the "impi'oi)er"beer, and become habituated to its taste 
or flavor. 

Answer. An regards the imported beers, they do not agree with me 
personally. There are many others with whom they do not agree. 
Many people have an idea that the}" are purer than our native beers, 
and drink them on that account. My own imi^ression, though I have 
not made any analyses, and I am not sure as to the facts, is that they 
contain preservatives to a considerable extent. Perhaps Dr. Wiley 
knows how that is, but I know that I can not drink them. 

The Chairman. You think antiseptic preparations or something of 
that kind are used? 

Answer. Yes, sir. I do not knoAv that fioni my own knowledge, but 
it is a matter of common repute. 

The Chairman. So far as your general knowledge of the subject is 
concerned, the character of the beers and ales brewed and used in New 
York is not different from those used elsewhere? 

Answer I did not catch the question. 

The Chairman. So far as your observation goes, there is no particu- 
lar difference between beers used in New York and those used else- 
where? 

Answer. I am very seldom elsewhere, and I have no practical knowl- 
edge of the beers that are made elsewhere. Of course I find Milwaukee 
beer and other beers for sale in New York, but I do not like them 
and do not drink them. I have drunk them, but I do not like them. 

The Chairman. Is there any "other article of general consumption 
which has attracted your attention, as above narrated, either as a 
mere fraud or as deleterious? 

Answer. Well, there are others, but none to which I have given 
more than passing attention. 

The Chairman. Salt, you say, is sometimes mixed with a small per- 
centage of cornstarch? 

Answer. Yes, sir; and sometimes it is so sold; and sometimes it is 
sold as being absolutely pure. 

The Chairman. The object of that is what, Doctor? 

Answer. The object of putting the cornstarch in is to make it run 
more freely through the cruet. 

Q. It is a drier, practically? — A. It is a lubricator It coats the 



ADULTERATION OB^ FOOD PRODUCTS. 191 

grains of salt so they, slip by each other more quickly. There is not 
the same adhesion between them as there is in the pure salt. 

The Chairman. It retards tlie effect of moisturey 

Answer. No, I do not believe it has any effect as regards moisture; 
not according to my observation. I think it is simply a lubricant. 

The Chairman. It makes it more desirable to use as a table salt or 
something of that kind? 

Answer. Some people prefer it. 

The Chairman. Some manufacturers state that distinctly !.. h^r 
packages and others do not? 

Answer. Some do and others do not. Others deny any mixture of 
any kind. 

The Chairman. Have j'ou any knowledge as to the use of so-called 
antiseptic preparations, Doctor, in articles of general consumption, as 
preservatives? 

Answer. I believe that they are verj^ largelj^ used. I believe that 
in New York State, at least, they will be used less than heretofore. I 
believe that the compounds of salicylic acid, boric acid, borate of 
sodium, ordinary borax, and formaline are the ones princijjally used. 
There is no question in m,y mind as to the injuriousness of borax, and 
at the hearing given by tlie senate committee of the New York State 
legislature in January last I expressed myself to that effect. Forma- 
line has been offered under various names. Formaline is the trade 
name only. Formic aldehyde, which has been offered under various 
trade names as a jireservative, is an active irritant poison. Of course, 
if it were given in homeopathic doses, after the manner of Hahne- 
mann, diluted up to the millionth or ten-millionth part, I do not know 
as it would have any effect; but I do not think that anj^ substance 
whatever which, used in ordinarj^ quantities, is actively harmful, 
should be permitted, under any form or in au}^ quantity, to be used 
in anj^ food ingredients. 

The Chairman. Do you think that the quantities in which they are 
used in these preparations are dangerous to health? 

Answer. I do not know what proportions they are used in, sir. That 
varies with the individual using them. 

The Chairman. At all events, Avould joii think tliat preparations of 
that kind should be distinctly labeled so that people could know what 
they are using? 

Answer. I think that those substances should be forbidden. 

The Chairman. Forbidden altogether? 

Answer. Yes, sir. All substances which could possibly be injurious 
I think should be forbidden. Where a mixture contains substances 
which are entirely harmless in gross quantities they should be labeled 
as mixtures. 

The Chairman. What is your opinion as to the harmfulness of the 
ordinarj^ aniline dyes? Are there any of them that are harmless, so 
far as you know? 

Answer. I do not know whether an,y of them are harmless or not. 
I do not know, as a matter of fact, whether any of them are harmful, 
except in appreciable quantities. At the same time, I would prohibit 
tlie use of those which could be shown to be harmful in appreciable 
quantities. So far as I know various aniline coloring matters have 
not been sufficiently investigated by chemists or physiologists. Tlie 
functions of the chemist are to determine the nature of the stuff. 
The functions of the physician are to determine its effects, which can 



192 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD FKODUCTS. 

only he done by experiments entirely outside of chemical laboratories 
and b}' exj)eriments which are more or less costly. 

The Chairman. These aniline dyes are more or less used for the 
purpose of giving an artificial color to various things? 
Answer. So I believe. 
The Chairman. Foods of all sorts? » 

The Witness (continuing). And so I know, as a matter of fact, 
that some of them are used in connection with butter, but whether 
harmful or not I do not know. I know that they are used in connec- 
tion with wines. ' In France they were formerly used to a consider- 
able extent, but that has been corrected in great measure by legis- 
lation, and there they were distinctly found to be injurious. Some 
of the aniline colors contain arsenic as an accidental impurity, not 
as an adulterant, but they are not sufficiently purified; and arsenic 
has been found in that class of anilines known as rose aniline, 
magenta, and fuchsin, etc. I have met with the liqueur known as 
creme de menthe, which, instead of being colored with a natural 
coloring matter, the j)lant peppermint, the chlorophyl, was colored 
with method green. In other words, the stuff was not made from 
mint, but was probably a mixture of methyl and sugar, wood alcohol, 
and methyl green. I do not know that that substance is injurious; 
but if I iuive ni}^ choice, I prefer straight goods, and Avhen I order 
creme de menthe as a beverage I should be protected in some wa}' in 
getting what I order. In other words, as the English law expresses it, I 
should have a substance of the nature and kind demanded, and not 
some other kind. 

The Chairman. Are the liqueurs, as far as you know, adulterated 
or really frauds? From your description of creme de menthe, that is 
really a fraud right through. 

Answer. That is a fraud right through, and I presume there are 
others. I know that simply from reading and from competent report. 
I am not an analytical chemist, and have not made many analyses 
myself. 

The Chairman. Have you any knowledge of, or are you familiar 
with, flavoring extracts? 

Answer. No, sir; only in a general way, from reading. 
The Chairman. Or sirups? 

Answer. Well, sirups, I believe, are made very largely- from glucose, 
and, as I have before stated, I believe glucose to be harmful. 

The Chairman. You can not mention, any other food product of 
importance that you have any knowledge, concerning the adulteration 
of which you have any knowledge? 

Answer. I have not investigated, Mr. Chairman, these others, and 
I only know the adulteration from general report and reading, but I 
believe that they are very largely adulterated. I think that, as 
regards the question of adulteration, the matter of liarmf ulness is not 
the only matter which should receive the consideration of your 
committee. 

The Chairman. I should have stated to j^ou, perhaps, at the beginning 
that the committee considers this subject divided into two branches: 
The consideration of those substances which are deleterious to the 
health of the public, and those wliich are simply fraudulent and 
intended to obtain something for nothing — not actually injurious, 
perhaps, but which are frauds upon the pocketbook. 

Answer. The chemist, with his special science, is enabled to deter- 
mine many mixtures very readily and to determine many adulterants. 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 193 

There are many others which are not so readily determined by chem- 
istry; in fact, wliich chemistry almost fails to determine, but which 
are readily determined by the microscope. So there are others which 
are more readily and quickly determined by the spectroscope than by 
either the microscope or the chemist. Now, a mixture of wheat flour 
with corn flour a chemist would have difficulty, I fancy, in determin- 
ing. The microscope would answer the question in a very few 
moments. So with the various coloring matters. The spectroscope 
would yield very prompt information ; much more so than either chem- 
istry or the microscope. 

Senator Harris. Well, Doctor, I believe that is all, unless you have 
some statement which you wish to make. 

The Chairman. What do you say about alum as a food product? 

Answer. I do not care to eat any, sir. 

The Chairman. As used in baking powders, have you had any 
occasion to consider that question? 

Answer. No; I am not an analytical chemist. I am a physician. 

The Chairman. I beg your pardon. I asked the question because 
I was absent. 

The Witness, I would make the statement to tlie chairman that I 
do not come to Chicago with a view to testifying before this commit- 
tee, I am here on other business, and learned of the presence of the 
committee incidentally through the papers. 

The Chairman. We learned incidentally that you were here, and 
wanted some of your advice, and we are very thankful to you for 
your kindness. 

Dr. PiFFARD. I would like, if I might, to say one word, Mr, Chair- 
man, and that is that I hope that this committee will incorporate 
something in the proposed legislation covering the matter not simply 
of foods and drinks, but of drugs. There is not time to go into that 
matter before this committee; but the United States Government does 
a great deal already in the way of prevention of adulteration by 
refusing admission into this country of adulterated and an inferior 
quality of drugs from foreign countries; but it does not do anything 
or it has not the power at present to prevent their adulteration after 
getting here, A man, for instance, will import fresh rhubarb of the 
best quality, but after it gets here no one knows what he may mix it 
with. Pie may buy it at 12 a pound, and he may powder it and mix it 
with an inferior inert substance — if you please, starch — and sell it for 
$2 a pound. 

The Chairman. That becomes a fraud upon the consumer — uj^on 
the consumer who buys it and does not have time to analyze it? 

Answer. Tes; in most of the States there are laws governing the 
adulteration of foods and the adulteration of drugs, laws which, on 
their face, look to be pretty good ones, but which are insufficient, 
either through the failure of the necessary appropriation to enforce 
them or through the failure of those whose business it is to enforce 
them, to know sufficient about the subject to do it. We will take, 
for instance, a health board— I will not say in what State — which 
has ample powers. It will have this year plenty of money. It 
lacks one thing onlj^ — brains; and it lacks another thing, too, and 
now I will speak anonymously. I read the report of one chemist, 
whose name I will not give, in which he stated that he did not 
think that it would be judicious for the body which employed him 
to take any action against the brewers, as that was such a large 
FP 13 



194 ADULTERATIOISr OF FOOD PRODUCTB. 

interest. I made up 1113^ mind that the fellow was either a fool or a 
knave, and I don't know which. I had occasion to read the report 
which he made to the committee which controlled him — which 
employed him. 

The Chairman. Then you would not recommend this committee to 
stop this investigation concerning the food products which are dele- 
terious to health and are frauds upon the people simi)ly because it 
may touch some interest. I quite agree with you upon that point. 
Doctor, you say, in a general way, that in your opinion you know 
that drugs are adulterated, some of them with a view to defrauding 
the consumer, the purchaser; and do you find that some of them are 
adulterated in a way that makes them dangerous, oris it simply, as a 
rule, a fraudulent adulteration? 

Answer. It is usuallj" an adulteration for the purpose of cheapening. 

The Chairman. Then, if you were to prescribe, for instance, qui- 
nine, it would be a dangerous thing if it was reduced — if you wanted 
to give 5 grains and in giving 5 grains you only gave 1 grain — it is a 
dangerous thing to permit such adulterations, is it not? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I will ss,j to you that the pure-food bills heretofore 
have had pure drugs connected with the jDure foods and, for some 
unknown reason, we have hardly ever been able in all the years gone 
by to secure any protection on food because the drug part of it was 
either so much at stake or infringed so much upon some folks' interest, 
which they called vested rights, that no legislature has been able to 
touch it. So that I, personally, in drawing my resolution, took food 
products alone, and separated them, to get at a little at a time. 

The Witness. There is another point in connection with drugs 
which I would like to bring forward, Mr. Chairman, and that is the offer- 
ing of mixtures by certain manufacturers under names which give a 
false idea of their composition. I have one such mixture in mind 
now. We have all of us heard, probably, of bromo-seltzer. The gen- 
eral impression is that bromo-seltzer is composed largelj" or wholly of 
bromide of potassium, or some other bromide, and the ingredients 
which are natural, more or less, to the seltzer water. Now, as a mat- 
ter of fact, some of these bromo-seltzers which are offered for sale bj' 
the druggists to the casual purchaser contain very little bromide of 
potassium, and their effect, such as it is, is not due to the bromide of 
potassium, in the main, but is due to something else, and that some- 
thing else is put there because it has an effect somewhat resembling 
that of bromide of potassium, but at the same time is a much more 
dangerous substance. My attention was brought to that matter by a 
brother physician who had a case of acute poisoning from so-called 
bromo-seltzer. He found out where it came from and called on the 
apothecary who put it up, and the apothecarj^ admitted, after pretty 
serious urging, or threats, rather, on the part of the physician — he 
was going to make a coroner's case of it if the man died — he admitted 
that the stuff was mainly acetanilide. 

There is a poisoning case in New York which has attracted some 
attention, the Adams poisoning case. This woman was poisoned, or 
died, rather, after taking something contained in a bottle marked 
bromo-seltzer, and on chemical examination it was found that the 
active poisonous ingredient had undoubtedly been added to the bromo- 
seltzer mixture, and was cyanide of mercury, but the chemist, rather 
innocently, without commenting on the fact at all, stated that there 
was also in it acetanilide. So I presume that the use of acetanilide in 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 195 

the place of bromide of potassium is rather prevalent in those bromide 
mixtures, and, I do not care how widely that is known to the public. 

Now, acetanilide cocts less per horsepower of effect, if I may so state, 
than bromide of jjotassium does, and it is used, therefore, simply as a 
cheapener and without any regard to the possible dangers of it. 



STATEMENT OF ALBERT B. PRESCOTT. 

Albert B. Prescott, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman : 

Q. Will you give your full name, please? — A. Albert B. Prescott. 

Q. Where is j^our residence? — A. Ann Arbor, Mich. 

Q. And your profession? — A. I am a chemist, and college teacher 
of chemistry and allied subjects. 

Q. How long have you been engaged in the study and practice of 
chemistry? — A. Since 18()5. 

Q. Did you graduate from any college or university? — A. Yes, sii-. 

Q. From Avhat? — A. From the University of Michigan. 

Q. And what is your position there now? — A. I am director of the 
chemical laboratory and dean of the school of pharmacy, and profes- 
sor of organic chemistry. 

Q. Doctor, I have taken the liberty to send for you because I heard 
you were here in the city, and I wanted j^our opinion in regard to 
some matters in your profession, for the benefit of Congress; and I 
would like to have you state in your own way your opinion as to the 
use of preservatives or antiseptics in the articles of food and drink 
which are manufactured and sold here — whether you consider them 
deleterious to health or not. State your own opinion and informa- 
licm on that subject. — A. I believe that in general preservatives and 
antiseptics in food are unfavorable to digestion and injurious to 
health, and they invite the use of certain grades of food which other- 
wise would not obtain. 

Q. In other words, let us see if I understand you. The use of anti- 
septics permits the use of a large number of different products which 
could not be used if they did not use antiseptics? — A. Quite so. And 
an article which the consumer would reject if it were not for the anti- 
septic, and which is not rendered wholesome by the antiseptic, al- 
though its decomposition may be delayed or even prevented, j^et an 
article as food is not rendered entirelj' wholesome. I believe that, as 
constituents of food, i^reservatives should be either prohibited bj^law, 
or announced upon the label or in the name of the food. There may 
be some cases where it would not be expedient, as I judge — claiming 
no maturity of judgment on that points — ^it might not be expedient to 
l^rohibit the use of preservatives. The term ' ' preservative " is of 
variable meaning. Common salt might be counted as a preservative, 
but it is not wholly such. It is in itself an article of food. Without 
undertaking to say how far preservatives should be prohibited by law, 
I believe that if not prohibited they should be announced either by 
labels or in the name of the food. 

Q. What are some of the most common antiseptics used. Professor? — 
A. Of what we call antiseptics, perhaps salicylic acid has been used 
more than any other one. Borax is largely used. Formaldehj^de is 
coming into quite general use. 

Q. We will take salicylic acid. What is the effect of its use, physi- 



196 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

ologieally? — A. Tlie effect of its eoiitiunecl use is injurious to the 
organs of secretion of the body. I wouldn't undertake to define, as a 
physician, just what those effects are, but they are recognized by 
sanitarians all over the world. 

Q. Formaldehyde. Professor Mitchell testified that he found it in 
an article called "freezine." He testified that some days ago. How 
is that made? — A. It is made by limited oxidation of wood alcohol. 

Q. It is a product, then, of wood alcohol? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And wood alcohol is an alcohol distilled from wood? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is it at all fit for consumption in the human body? — A. No; it 
is not as an article; it is not as the article is furnished. 

Q. Wood alcohol is poisonous, is it not? — A. If it is not absolutely 
pure; it may have its place as a medicine, but it has no place as a food. 

Q. I just happen to remember to have seen in the paper the account 
of the death of a man who drank wood alcohol by mistake. — A. These 
quite poisonous substances are included in ordinary crude or artificial 
wood alcohol. 

Q. What do you say as to the wholesomeness of formaldehyde? — A. 
I count it as injurious and unwholesome. I can not say how far it 
causes injury by its direct effects. I doubt not that it does to some 
extent. I would not undertake to say on that point, but I am sure 
that it causes injury by interfering with the digestive processes, as, 
indeed, all antiseptics do and must do from their very nature. That 
agent which will prevent fermentation, putrefaction, organic decom- 
position, will prevent the processes of digestion by virtue of the same 
power, and an antiseptic is in greater or less degree an antidigestive 
by virtue of its character. 

Q. And your recommendation would be, then, that wherever it is 
used at all in a prepared article of food it should be so marked and 
labeled upon the outside? — A. If allowed to be sold it should be 
announced. 

Q. But you would not recommend, would you, to the committee 
that it should be absolutely prohibited? — A. Well, I can hardly 
answer that question. 

Q. That is, a certain class of antiseptics? — A. I think it would be 
expedient and wise to prohibit the use of, for instance, salicylic acid 
in malt liquors and wines, and the introduction of j)reservative agents 
into foods in other instances. 

Q. Have you had any occasion to analyze baking powders? — A. I 
have made some analyses, yes, at one time and another; a good many 
analyses of baking powders. 

Q. What is your opinion as to the baking powders, as to how thej^ 
should be branded or marked? You understand that we have two 
branches of this inquiry. One is to determine and report to the Sen- 
ate what food products are deleterious to health, and what are not 
necessarily deleterious to health, but are simply frauds upon the con- 
sumer. Are there any baking powders which you have examined that 
you consider deleterious to health — the .contents deleterious to 
health? — A. I think the constituent of baking powders most objec- 
tionable, so far as I know, in this country at present, is alum. The 
term "baking j)owder," without qualification, carries to the public 
mind, I believe, an impression of a tartrate baking powder, and I am 
not quite sure, but I am inclined to think that any other baking pow- 
der than that made by mixing cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda 
and a due quantity of filling — that any other baking powder should 
have its composition announced on the package. At any rate, .1 am 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 197 

veiy sure that auy baking' powder containing ahnn, if allowed to be 
sold, should have the presence of the alum clearly stated on each 
package. 

Q. What is alum? — A. Alum is a double sulphate of aluminum and 
an alkali metal; aluminum and soda, quite g•enerallJ^ 

Q. How is it made? I don't understand. You say it is a product 
of aluminum and soda? — A. Yes; it is a combination of one acid and 
two bases, one of which is aluminum and the other an alkali metal, 
made by the manufacturing procedure. As a salt of aluminum it 
contains an astringent which has an effect on the human system and 
digestive apparatus in the nature of a medicinal effect; medicinal 
when applied with remedial intent, but injurious when taken habit- 
ually day after day and indiscriminately^ by those who do not know 
what it is. 

Q. The suggestion has been made by some other witness — and we 
wish to hear all sides — that alum undergoes a change in baking, so 
that when it goes into the stomach there is no alum in the stomach. 
What change does it undergo in baking, if you know. Doctor? — A. In 
the mixing of the bread sponge, of course, it undergoes a change; 
otherwise it would not be a baking powder at all. It is designed 
o give rise to carbonic-acid gas and does undergo a change. I know 
the claim is made, which I have considered a great many times, that 
it becomes nearly or quite insoluble, and therefore inert in the stom- 
ach. Now, doubtless some portion of the alum does become very 
difficultly soluble in the stomach, and not all of the alum comes 
into solution in the stomach. Nobod}^ can tell how much. No two 
stomachs are in exactly the same condition. The contents of the 
stomach, the chemical agencies of solution in the stomach, are very, 
very complex; in fact, too complex to be fully defined by chemistrj^ 
at the present time. The alum is liable to go into solution, and if 
not fully dissolved when in the condition of aluminum hydrate or 
other compound of alum in contact with the acidulous and albuminous 
fluids of the stomach it is liable to go into combinations with the 
digestive agents of the stomach and with the principles of food, the 
constituents of food, so as to have its effect as an astringent and a pre- 
cipitant, which effect, though very slight, when continued from month 
to month and year to year, tends to impair the sources of nutrition. 

Q. Have you analyzed jellies? — A. Not vevy much myself. I have 
seen analyses of them. 

Q. Or siruj)s? — A. I have analyzed sirups to some extent. 

Q. The distinguished doctor who was on the stand just before j^ou 
testified as to the use of glucose. Have you any opinion as to whether 
that is necessarilj' a healthy food product or not? — A. Yes, sir; I have 
an opinion. 

Q. What is it. Doctor? — A. Well, it is that glucose is a food bj^ itself 
and, I think, deserving of recommendation and toleration as food. How 
far it is a wholesome food — I mean to say for how many individuals, 
how many persons it is a wholesome food — I can't say, and the public 
have had very little opportunity to judge, because the consumer does 
not know when he is obtaining glucose and when he is obtaining some 
other sugar, and I believe, if I may be permitted to express an 
opinion 

The Chairman. That is just what we want. 

Answer. It is one which has perhaps become a hobby with me, that 
tlie substitution of one wholesome food for another, unknown to the 
consumer and the public, is a sanitar}^ offense, for what is a wholesome 



198 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

food for one man is not a wholesome food for another man, and most 
of the members of the community whom I meet profess to have some 
experience as to what food is beneficial for their own digestion and 
what is unfavorable to their digestion, and if substitutions unknown to 
the consumer are permitted that experience goes for nothing and the 
public are discouraged in attempting to obtain experience. 

Q. Then you hold that the substitution of what may be a pure food 
for some other pure food is not only fraud upon the public but is a 
sanitary offense? — A. I believe it to be a sanitary offense. 

Q. As well as a moral offense? — A. I have said that it is difficult to 
find two stomachs that are alike — as difficult as it is to find two faces 
which will look alike — so that we could not distinguish one from the 
other. From the extreme complexity of the digestive process and 
the highly organized condition of the human body, it becomes impossi- 
ble, by chemical analysis, to say precisely what food would be the 
most favorable to digestion and harmless, for a given individual. 
People find out by experience. We hear men say every day, "I can't 
eat fish." We hear men say every day, "I can't eat potatoes." We 
hear men say everyday, "I can't eat this or that article of food." 
The witness who preceded me said he had been greatly injured by 
malt liquor made from rice. That may be a universal experience, but 
it doesn't follow that is the universal experience because it was his 
experience; but it does follow that he should be protected in his under- 
taking to get malt liquor made from barley when that is his purpose. 

Senator Harris. You said a while ago something in regard to jelly, 
I believe. It was testified here a day or two ago by a manufacturer 
of jelly that he used some aud which hastened the jellying of fruit 
extracts. He said it was an imported acid, I believe, and did not 
know what its composition was. In analyzing jellies or fruits, or 
anything of that kind, or in any analyses which you have seen, have 
you recognized any such acid? 

Answer. I have not myself made analyses of jellies. 

Q. From your general information, has any such acid been known 
to you? — A. I know that jellies are largely made up of artificial mix- 
tures or acids, namely, gelatin, etc., and given the name of the jelly 
of this or that fruit. That is an instance, a very flagrant one, I think, 
of injurious substitution of foods. 

Q. I thought so, and I am interested in endeavoring to ascertain 
what acid could be used for such a purpose, or if you know of any 
acid that is commercially sold for any such purpose. — A. I have not 
information on that point. 

Q. There is another matter that I feel interested in, for the benefit 
of your knowledge given to the committee upon, and that is with 
I'egard to the general use of coloring matter. — A. Coloring matter is 
used largely in butter and oleomargarine. Those are two specific 
things of general consumption. 

Q. Have you analyzed these substances so as to know what is the 
general coloring matter used? — A. I have in the case of oleomarga- 
rine within the past year or year and a half, quite a good deal. 

Q. What did you find to be the character of- the coloring matter? — 
A. Coal-tar colors; chieflj^ that class of coal tar called azo dyes. 

Q. What is generally known as aniline dyes? — A. The term ' ' ani- 
line " is applied to coal-tar colors, covered by the term " aniline." Azo 
dyes have been declared to be poisonous ; but to what extent or degree, 
or how far they are poisonous, I do not know. I believe they are 
objectionable in food, at least until it shall be known and determined 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTt^. 199 

which of them are harinless; and I believe that any coloring matter 
which tends to deceive the consumer as to the article of food tluit lie 
is buying is indirectly injurious, for the reasons I have stated. 

Q. Well, you say you found them in oleomargarine? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What about coloring matters used for butter? — A. I haven't 
made analyses of them. I have been about to do so, but haven't got 
at it. 

Q. Of course the same color sought for in oleomargarine is sought 
for in coloring butter? — A. Annatto, a vegetable coloring, is the only 
one which has been used in butter colors. Some years ago I analyzed 
butter colors submitted to me from time to time, and found them gen- 
erally some preparation of annatto, which would not be objectionable; 
but I would not be surprised if some of the ordinary butter colors in 
use now contained coal-tar colors. 

Q. It would be reasonable to suppose, I think, Avithout expressing 
any opinion as to the fact, that the coloring matter found desirable in 
the manufacture, on a large scale, of oleomargarine would be found 
desirable in the manufacture of butter on a large scale, and I wanted 
to know whether the manufacturers of both articles practically use 
the same amount of coloring matter? — A. I don't know. Butter is not 
manufactured on so large a scale as the oleomargarine. 

Q. Possibly not.— A. And it has not been found, perhaps, so impor- 
tant to obtain a color that will not fade in the case of butter as in the 
case of oleomargarine. The azo dyes have an advantage over annatto 
in that regard. 

Q. More permanent? — A. The color is more permanent. 

Q. You expressed an opinion, I believe, just now that gave me the 
impression that you regard the use of artificial coloring matter, as a 
rule, as objectionable? — A. Objectionable if the color itself be objec- 
tionable, and, in the second place, objectionable if it deceives the 
l)urchaser into thinking that he gets one thing when he is actually 
getting another. 

Q. Well, that would iilso apply to grades of the same thing? — A. As 
to grades of the same thing, it would apply in a lesser degree as 
between winter butter and summer butter. It would apply in a lesser 
degree because the difference is not nearlj^ so great as it is between 
butter which comes from milk and oleomargarine. 

Q. It is simply a question of degree? — A. Yes. 

Q. In regard to the coloring mattei-s used in jellies. Take the sub- 
ject of jellies and pickles. Have you any knowledge of injurious 
substances, aniline dyes, which are used in those cases? — A. I have 
not. I have given some attention to the matter of the copper-green 
of pickles, lieas, and other vegetables, as a matter of coloring, which 
has been very much in controversy among sanitarians. 

Q. You think that such an ingredient is used? — A. It is used quite 
largely. I believe alum is also used somewhat in fixing the color of 
pickles. It is a mordant and fixes the color. In fact, copper sulphate 
acts more as a mordant than as a direct coloring agent proper — quite 
as much or more so. And alum serves in fixing the colors. 

Q. Would you be inclined to think legislation wise that would pro- 
hibit the use of coloring matter altogether? On which side, I mean, 
would the safety lie? — A. I would advise that it be prohibited or 
declared on the label; but I would not undertake to say that it should 
be prohibited in all cases. 

Q. I believe it has been stated that in a great deal of confectionery 
absolutely dangerous coloring matter is used. Have you any knowl- 



200 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

edge of coloring matter of that character used for that pur]3ose? — A, 
I have not made analyses of confectionery; no, sir. I know it is col- 
ored. Some of tlie European governments have issued from time to 
time lists of colors which the law would permit, which were not pro- 
hibited, as harmless colors; but with regard to confectionery, T think 
that is ver}^ wise. 

Q. They took the ground that it was easier to make an exception of 
those which are healthy than to make an exception of those M^hich are 
injurious? — A. Yes, sir; I believe so. 

Senator Harris. A very safe principle. [Addressing Chief Chem- 
ist Wilev:] Do you desire to make anv further inquiries, Professor 
Wiley? ' 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I would like for Dr. Prescott to say some- 
thing in regard to the use of borax. He spoke of other preservatives, 
and that is one which is coming into very general use, especially in 
butter. 

Senator Harris. Doctor, we would be glad to have your opinion on 
the use of borax as a preservative. 

Answer. Well, I think what I said regarding salicylic acid applies 
to borax. That has much force as to salicylic acid. That has much 
force. If there be any difference between them it is one of degree, 
and I would not undertake to say what degree of difference, but not 
sufficient to make any difference in legislation. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. You would make the same remark in regard 
to sulphite of soda? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I would. I will saj' again that preservatives are 
necessarily antidigestive, which, if there were no other reason, should 
cause them to be excluded. 

Senator Harris. There is one other thing I would like brought out 
on the subject of baking powder, and that is in regard to the nature 
of cream of tartar as compared with alum, the one being a product of 
nature and the other a chemical compound. 

Answer. Cream of tartar is a constituent of fruits, especially the 
grape, from which it is obtained, because it is the only acid of the 
grape. I believe that the acid salts of the fruits are among the most 
wholesome and important constituents of the food of man, those con- 
stituents whicli, when entirely lacking, leave sailors and soldiers vic- 
tims of scurvy. The fruit acids I believe to be excellent articles of 
food. Not all natural substances are wholesome articles of food, but 
cream of tartar has a high rank as such, both in itself and in what it 
leaves behind after the process of leavening and baking of bread. It 
is left behind as a salt or tartaric acid, a salt called Rochelle salts, 
which, in large doses, is very slightly laxative and favorable to the 
activit}^ of the glands, but in doses in which it occurs in food having 
only that favorable effect which fruits have as articles of food. 

Q. Those properties j^ou would not consider to be possessed by alum 
made by chemical means? — A. Quite the contrarj'. 

Q. Then you would regard the residue left from the cream of tartar 
baking i^owder as favorable to health and the residue left from alum 
baking powder as injurious to health? — A. Quite so, in both cases. 

Senator Harris. You made a general observation, Doctor, which 
struck me with considerable force in the early jiart of your testimony, 
as to the effect of antisej)tic preservatives in increasing or encouraging 
the use of foods which either could not or would not be used other- 
wise. Now, to make a sort of specific application of that i-emark — I 
want to get it so it Mill have as mucli effect as possible — jou think, 



ADULTP]RATI<)N OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 201 

unquestionablj^ that the use of antiseptics and preservatives in such 
preparations as hamburger steak and sausages and mincemeat, and 
the various cliai-aeters of chopped meat — that that would be a material 
element of harmfulness; that it would encourage and increase the use 
of meats of that cliaracter which it would not otherwise be possible 
to use? 

Answer. I believe so, decidedly, in the practical effect. The article 
of meat which the manufacturer would not otherwise venture to put 
on the market he might venture to put on the market bj' treating it 
with an antiseptic, when he should be compelled to use the antiseptic 
in the fullest possible amount. An article of milk which was just 
beginning to sour, so as not to be in a favorable condition — in the 
favorable condition of fresh milk — could not be distributed to cus- 
tomers without the addition of an antiseptic; but the vendor might, 
by checking all further change, almost or quite bring it back again to 
something like an inoffensive condition, so that it would be acceptable 
to the purchaser and not be offensive to the senses, and still it would 
lack the wholesome character of fi'esh food. 

Q. So that, even if it were possible that there should be some shade 
of doubt as to the direct harmfulness of the antiseptic itself, the 
injurious effect resultant would be sufficient to fjlace us on our guard, 
at least, very seriously? — A. It would. However, it must be remem- 
bered that some articles of food are preserved very properly. We 
have preserved meats. We have salted meats, which, in a sense, are 
preserved meats, and, though salt is not practically classed among 
antiseptics at the present time, yet, if we were to be critical about 
definitions 

Q. Then there Avould be this distinction at the same time, that salt 
is recognized as one of the essential elements of human food? — A. 
Yes. 

Q. Necessary to the system? — A. That is so.. Besides that, however, 
it is a preservative. 

Q. That makes a marked distinction between it and other preserva- 
tives? — A. Yes. 

Q. I know that the assertion has been made during our hearings 
here that salt is a preservative, but I think tlie distinction between 
salt as a preservative and some of these others is very marked. — A. 
Yes. Well, as to the absolute rejection in all cases of such an article 
as saltpeter or niter in the preparation of ham I would not undertake 
to decide. 

Q. Well, possibly, then, it would be wise to follow the example of 
foreign goveVnments, which you mentioned, where they state what 
are harmless and healthful articles of food in such cases? — A. Yes, it 
would be; and to recognize them any legislation u]3on antiseptics and 
preservatives should necessarily define them by some limiting terms. 



STATEMENT OF VICTOR C. VAUGHAN. 

Victor C. Yaughan, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

Examination bj" the Chairman: 
Q. What is your name? — A. My name is Victor C. Vaughan. 
Q. Where do j'ou live? — A. I live at Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Q. You are temporarily here in Chicago, are you? — A. Yes, sir. 
Q. Do you hold any official position in your State? — A. I am dean 



202 ADULTERATION OF PT)OD PRODUCTS. 

of the medical faculty of the University of Michigan and professor of 
hygiene in the University of Michigan. 

Q. Have you had public connection in Government affairs during 
the Spanish war? — A. I am still major and division surgeon in the 
Volunteer Army. 

Q. Division surgeon. That makes you ranking surgeon of the 
division? — A. Yes, sir. I served through the Santiago campaign as 
such. 

Q. Before you enlisted you held, and do you still hold, your position 
in the University of Michigan? — A. I do; yes, sir. 

Q. Permit me to ask you where you graduated as a phj^sician? — A. I 
graduated at the Universitj^ of Michigan. I have since studied in Ber- 
lin, Paris, and other places. 

Q. Have j^ou given the subject of food adulteration some thought? — 
A. Yes, sir; I have been professor of hygiene for twenty-five years, 
and I have been very deeply interested in the subject of the adultera- 
tion of foods, and I am very glad that there is a probability that the 
General Government will take up this matter. 

Q. You think there should be a national law on the subject? — A. I 
think there should be a national law, and I am very glad to have the 
opportunity to testify before you on this subject, because I have cer- 
tain definite opinions, the result of a good many years of study, and I 
shall be glad to give them. 

Q. AVe shall be glad to have them. Just state to the committee, in 
your own way, Doctor, a few of the abuses which you say you would 
like to see corrected, if there are abuses. I should state to you on the 
start that we have two branches of this investigation — that is. we are 
trying to separate those that are mere commercial frauds bj' adultera- 
tion and those adulterations which are deleterious to public health. — 
A. There are just two kinds of adulterations. Those that are directly 
detrimental to health and those which are simply pecuniary frauds. 
Still, however, it is quite impossible to separate these, because an adul- 
teration which may be undertaken for the purpose of pecuniary gain 
will often injure health. Some people say that sanitarians have no 
right to discuss those adulterations which are simply for gain and 
where the adulterant is not poisonous. That is quite a mistaken idea. 
Let me illustrate. Suppose a child is fed upon skim milk when the 
parent thinks it is getting whole milk. There has been no harmful 
substitute added. In fact, there has been nothing added — simply the 
cream has been taken awaj^ in part or altogether. The subtraction is 
for pecuniar}^ gain. Still, that child may suffer just as ,much as if a 
poison had been administered to it, b}^ not getting the proper food 
constituents. In the same way, if an improper baking powder is used 
in making a bread, it is not altogether a question as to whether that 
baking powder is a poisonous substance or not. Another question is 
whether the bread that is made from it is a good bread or not, because 
that makes a big difference as to whether the individual is getting a 
good bread to eat or a poor bread to eat. If he is getting good bread 
to eat, it probably means health and vigor, and if he is getting poor 
bread to eat it iDrobably means indigestion, etc. As I say, I have 
been very much interested in this subject of adulterants and coloring 
matters and substitutes and surrogates, etc. 

Q. What do you mean by surrogates? — A. A surrogate is a substi- 
tution. For instance, we have coffee surrogates, such as chicory and 
various other mixtures; and oleomargarine might be regarded as a 
substitute for butter. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 203 

Q. Now, in regard to the coloring matters. — A. In regard to the color- 
ing matters, it seems to me that it would be wise to name the coloring 
matters that may be used. T see no reason why certain coloring mat- 
ters should not be used properly. There is no reason why I should 
not improve the looks of the food I use. I think the appearance of 
food has some effect upon its digestibility — putting it in good shape — 
and I see no reason why butter could not be colored Avith annate. Of 
course we demand June butter all the year round. 

Q. What is annato? — A. Annato is a vegetable coloring matter. 
Of course, the general object of all coloring matter is, as has been 
stated here, to enable the seller to sell an inferior grade in place of a 
better grade. 

Senator Harris. At a higher price? 

Answer. At a higher price. For instance, oleomargarine men color 
their oleomargarine in order that they may sell it as butter. I think 
there would be no objection to their coloring their oleomargarine if 
they still sold it, or the Government made them sell it, as oleomar- 
garine, provided that the coloring matter was harmless and did not 
in any way interfere with the digestibility of the material. That is 
what I think about coloring matters in general. 

Q. That applies to butter as well as to oleomargarine? — A. Yes, sir; 
it applies to butter. The Government would best serve the people of 
this country by specifying the coloring matters which may be used in 
butters and butter substitutes, and then, of course, afterwards the 
coloring matters might be added. I have never found any poisonous 
coloring matters in sufficient quantity to act as butter or oleomar- 
garine. Of course, there are poisonous substances, in considerable 
amounts, sometimes found in confectionery. The anilines are often 
contaminated with arsenic, and this results in the proi)ortion of the 
aniline 

Q. Just to interrupt you a moment. Doctor. Have you analj^zed 
the coloring matter used in butter and oleomargarine? — A. Yes, I have 
made a good many examinations of that. 

Q. It is asserted now that aniline coloring matters are largely 
used. — A. The}^ are. I think annato is but little used now. It was 
used a good deal formerly. But the azo compounds, which are aniline 
compounds, are used almost exclusively, for the reason that Dr. Prescott 
stated, that they give a more jjermanent color. 

The Chairman. But you do not consider those healthful, generally 
speaking, those aniline colors? 

Answer. I do not think the aniline colors used in the methods in 
which they are used, either in butter or oleomargarine, are harmful 
at all. I am A-ery j)ositive about that, and I think that their use might 
be permitted within certain limits, of course, as to quantity. Of 
course the amount is very small, but I say the reason the oleomarga- 
rine man colors his product is that he may sell it as butter. 

Senator Harris. For the same reason that the manufacturer of 
winter butter colors it to resemble June butter? 

Answer. Exactly. It is the same fraud. One is just as much to 
blame as the other. Is there any further question on colors? 

The Chairman. No, I think not. Take the question of preserva- 
tives, if you will. 

Answer. As to preservatives, I think there are some preservatives 
which must be allowed in certain foods. As a rule, their use is to be 
condemned, for two reasons. In the first place, like coloring matter, 
it enables a man to sell a poor-grade article in place of a better 



204 ADULTERATIOIT OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

grade; and, in the second place, it enables the manufacturer to be 
less careful in other means of preservation. For instance, if he is 
putting up a can of peaches or pears, or anything of that kind, if he 
will add a little salicylic acid he need not be so careful in his sterili- 
zation. That is a very important thing. I do not think salicj^lic acid, 
or butyric acid, or anything of that kind ought to be allowed in pre- 
serving fruits or jellies, because if the sterilization is complete those 
things can be kept without any antiseptic added. 

Q. Sterilization means to heat? — A. Yes; heat and properly seal. 
That is all included in the word "sterilization." I don't see how we 
would get along with our cider unless we used a little salicylic acid, 
not if we wanted to keep it, and I think in such cases as that that 
salicylic acid would be allowed as a preservative. 

Senator Harris. In a prescribed amount? 

Answer. In a prescribed amount, yes; that it should not exceed a 
certain amount. I have seen at least one person very severely poisoned 
from drinking cider which contained a very large amount of salicylic 
acid. I think, as a rule, preservatives should be condemned. 

The Chairman. What do you say about using it in beer — salicjdic 
acid? 

Answer. I don't think there is any need of using salicylic acid or 
any other preservative in beer, if it is properly made, and especially 
the so-called export beer, if it is properly sterilized. There is no 
need whatever for the addition of any salicylic acid or any other 
preservative. Now, as to the jellies. As we all know, most of the 
jellies are made from apples, and they are made bj' the action of some 
dilute acid, and this acid is generally hydrochloric acid. Sometimes 
sulphuric acid is used. Of course, it is a diluted preparation of either 
hydrochloric acid or suljDhuric acid. 

Senator Harris. Does that promote the process of jellying? 

Answer. Yes; it breaks down the fruit and makes a jelly of it more 
readily than it would be done by the ordinary method. I have exam- 
ined a number of those preparations which are used for jellying fruits, 
and most of them that I have examined have been hydrochloric acid. 
If my memory serves me right, I found one that had sulphuric acid 
in it. Now, I don't see why verj^ dilute hydrochloric acid might not 
be used in jellying fruit. I should object very much to the use of 
sulphuric acid, and I think when it is used it ought to be so stated on 
the label. I don't think hydrochloric acid is present in sufficient 
quantit}^ in the jellies which I have examined, at least, to be of any 
harm. Hydrochloric acid is a normal constituent of the stomach, and 
I should be in favor of permitting the use of such a method of jelly- 
ing, provided, of course, that it was stated on the label. Then, of 
course, the jellies are flavored. They take apples and make all kinds 
of jellies, pear jelly, quince jelly, pineapple jelly; and all these from 
the same fruit. Tliat is done by adding the flavoring material of that 
fruit, the ether, butj^ric ether, and the coloring. Of course, they are 
all colored by the anilines. All of this should be controlled by law. 

Senator Harris. The flavoring matters of some fruits are not obtain- 
able; in those cases chemical preparations are used? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. Take, for instance, pineapples and bananas. — A. Yes; they use 
butyric ether, I suppose, for almost all of those things. 

The Chairman. About flavoring extracts, Doctor? 

Answer. I have not known very much about flavoring extracts, 
practically, but of course most of them are artificial. They are made 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 205 

up from these cheniicall}^ prepared ethers, etc., such as Ijutyric ether 
and others. 

Q. I liave just received some information that in some of these 
factories they use wood alcohol, which is much cheaper than ordinary 
alcohol. — A. The use of wood alcohol certainly is to be condemned. 
It is a poisonous substance, even when pure, and is, as ordinarily used, 
a very poisonous substance, and it certainly ought to be condemned. 
There can be no question about that. There can not possibly be any 
question about that. Now, gi-ound coffees are largely adulterated. I 
suppose most people know that these coffees are adulterated. Some 
of them have no coffee in them at all, but still they are sold as coffee. 
And then there are coffee substitutes, which are sold in some parts of 
the United States as brands of coffee — Father Kneipp's coffee. Every- 
body who knows anything about it knows that there is no coffee at all 
in that; but the Government allows it to be sold as a coffee, and many 
people who buy it think they are getting a special brand of coffee. 

The Chairman. Many of us buy for the use of some members of 
the family a certain coffee that we know to be a cereal coffee. There 
is no objection to that, is there? 

Answer. No. 

Senator Harris. It is a substitute for coffee? 

Answer. It states that it is a coffee substitute. 

,The Chairman. How about baking powders; have vou analyzed 
them? 

Answer. Yes; I have analyzed a great many baking powders. The 
baking powders most commonly in use in this country are the tartrate 
and the alum baking powders. The tartrate baking powder is the 
ideal baking powder. That consists of the acid tartrate of potash, 
which is obtained from the grape. When the wine ferments the alco- 
hol is formed, and the tartrate, being less soluble than the alcohol, 
that acid is precipitated onto the sides and bottom of the cask, and 
this is taken and purified and mixed with bicarbonate of soda and a 
little starch, to keep it dry and to act as a filler; and when it is mixed 
with water and mixed with the bread the acid tartrate decomposes 
and sets free carbonic acid, which causes the bread to leaven and rise 
and makes it porous, and of course the object of making bread porous 
is to improve its digestibility. Within certain limits the more porous 
the bread is the more readily is it digested, because the gastric juice 
and other secretions get into the pores better. More or less of it 
remains even after mastication, and it aids in digestion. So I think 
there can not be any objection to the use of the tartrate baking pow- 
ders. On the other hand, I am quite positive that the alum baking- 
powders -should be condemned, and for these reasons: In the first 
place, the action of alum on the bicarbonate of soda is irregular and 
uncertain. No chemist can mix those substances in such proportions 
that under all conditions it will give off a definite amount of carbonic- 
acid gas, and consequently the kind of bread formed with an alum 
baking powder will vary, and vary under the conditions of tempera- 
ture and amount of water or kind of dough and conditions which the 
maker of the bread can not know or control. That is one reason. 
The bread is liable to be inferior. 

The second reason is this : The alum works upon the bicarbonate of 
soda so slowly and imperfectly that in a great many cases the residue 
of the alum is left unchanged, and that is liable to be harmful. We 
know that alum in large doses is seriously harmful, and even in small 
quantities, in doses of 5 grains or more, it is an astringent, and it inter- 



206 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

feres with the seoretion of the gastric juices and has an astringent 
effect upon the intestines, is liable to cause constipation; and for these 
reasons it is injurious, especiallj^ when it is taken two or three times 
a day over a long period of time. 

Then, again, even when the alum undergoes decomposition, it forms 
either the phosphate of aluminum or the hydrate of aluminum, or both, 
and both of these are soluble to some extent in the gastric juices of the 
stomach, and both of them are soluble in albuminous substances. 
They are taken into the system in small quantities, it is true, but it is 
a harmful substance, even in small quantities, and is injurious. 

Q. Is alum found in any natural product? — A. It is not found in 
anj^ natural food ; no. Of course there are waters that contain forms of 
alum, natural waters; but the tartrate of potash is in the grape, which 
is a natural food. I believe the grape contains about 1 per cent of 
acid tartrate of potash, and of course in eating a pound of grapes one 
would get from 4 to 5 grains of tartrate of potash, and no one would 
claim that that was injurious; and, besides, the substance that is 
formed from the action of the tartrate of potash on the bicarbonate of 
soda — these Rochelle salts — is not injurious. In fact, these acid salts, 
as Dr. Prescotthas said, are beneficial to the body, as is shown by the 
fact that they prevent scurvj^, etc. 

Q. You have testified about coloring and coloring matters gener- 
ally — as to butterine and other food products, I believe? — A. Yes. I 
understand (I don't know how true it is) that flour is being adulter- 
ated now with starch. I have never seen such an adulteration myself, 
but I have had trustworthy information that such is the case. 

Q. There has been a question here that I would like to have your 
opinion on, as to the fixing of standards. It is a very difficult matter 
when you come to see the great variety of things which are put upon 
the market as pure foods — it is a very difficult matter to get a general 
law that will not work hardship in some particular cases. The con- 
sensus of opinion is that each article ought to be marked for what it 
really is, without necessarily disclosing trade secrets or giving the 
exact quantitj' of ingredients. But take coffee, for instance, and 
cloves — oil of cloves. There is a national board, the United States 
Pharmacopoeia. Thej^ have fixed standards, and thej' have been 
adopted by the Government Department? — A. Yes. 

Q. For instance, one witness has testified that in the importation of 
opium it must contain a certain amount of morphine in order to be 
considered opium. That was to stop its adulteration. There is a fixed 
strength for oils and extracts fixed by that board. What suggestion 
would you make to this committee as to fixing standards for foods? — 
A. I think it would be quite impossible to fix standards for all foods 
as you do for medicines. Of course for milk you could fix a standard. 
You might say that milk shall contain such a percentage of milk solids, 
and not less ; but I don't see how you can fix a standard for bread and 
m at or anything of that kind. 

Q. How about beer, for instance? — A. I think there ought to be a 
fixed standard for those things, yes. 

Q. For manufactured articles? — A. Yes. 

Q. Prepared and sold in packages? — A. Yes. 

Q. How would you constitute that board, or how would you fix that 
law? Some suggestion has been made that there should be a national 
board. — A. Oh, there should be, undoubtedly. It is a disgrace to 
this country that we haven't such a board. We ought to have a 
national board of health to look after such things, or a national board 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 207 

devoted to the subject of foods, and not dejjend just upon a little 
investigation that a Senate committee is able to give on short notice. 
And, besides, laying aside all questions of sanitation, it would pay 
the Government to do it, because, as j^ou suggested a moment ago, it 
would give our foods a standard value in other countries and it would 
help our exports most nearly. 1 don't think of anything else myself 
at present. 

STATEMENT OF H. C. ADAMS. 

H. C. Adams, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman : 

Q. What is your name? — A. H. C. Adams. 

Q. Where do you liveV — A. Madison, Wis. 

Q. What official position do you hold? — A. Dairy and food com- 
missioner of that State. 

Q. Is that an elective or appointive office? — A. Appointive. 

Q. Appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate?— ;-A. 
Appointed bj" the governor and confirmed by the senate. 

Q. Are you a professional man or a business man? — A. T have been 
a farmer most of my life. 

Q. You have taken considerable interest and studied somewhat 
this question of food products? — A. I have. 

Q. Especially as connected with dairies, I understand? — A. Yes, 
sir; I have. 

Q. Dairy food products? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. In view of your official position, we would like to know what 
you think as to the advisability of having a national pure-food law 
and a national board? — A. I think we should have a national pure- 
food law, beyond any question, and that Congress should go to the lim- 
its of its constitutional authority in making that law comprehensive 
and stringent. 

Q. You do not see that it would in any way conflict with, but, on the 
contrary, would assist, would it not, the States in carrying out these 
laws? — A. I think so. Of course Congress can not cover this whole 
subject, because it can only, as I understand it, regulate that matter 
so far as it apj^lies to interstate commerce, the Territories, and the 
District of Columbia, but it could do this: It could give to the States 
of the American Union a model food law. As it is now, we have 
food laws upon the statute books of every American State. Probably 
50 per cent of those laws have been passed during the last five years. 
Public sentiment has been turned in that direction. But these laws 
vary in character, and it is simple justice not only to the consumers 
of this product but also to the manufacturers that, if possible, we 
should secure uniformity, and the tendency of strong national legis- 
lation would be to secure that uniformity. 

Q. You have given the subject of butter and oleomargarine consid- 
erable study, and the question has been asked and discussed here as 
to whether we should permit the coloring of oleomargarine. — A. The 
law of Wisconsin, which I happened to draw, prohibits the coloring 
of oleomargarine in imitation of yellow butter. Of course the obvious 
reason for the passage of such a law was to prevent the sale of oleomar- 
garine for an article which it was not; to prohibit its sale as a coun- 
terfeit. The friends of the oleomargarine interests insisted that the 
dairy interests were inconsistent, for the reason that they colored 



208 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

tlieir butter to prohibit the coloring of oleomargarine. The claim, 
however, is hardly well founded, because butter is not colored in imi- 
tation of some other article, and it is not colored in imitation of a 
more valuable quality of the same goods. We color winter butter, to 
be sure, and we color it in imitation of June butter; but June butter 
will sell largely in Chicago in the winter under its own color, sells 
more largely than the uncolored winter butter, and certainly no harm 
or deception can come to the consumer by the coloring of an article in 
imitation of something of less value. Nobody is harmed or injured. . 
It is done for the purpose of pleasing the eye. The demands of the 
markets in the United States, so far as this matter of color is con- 
cerned, var3^ Certain markets require a highly colored butter. Oth- 
ers require a butter of a very much lighter color. 

Q. Then, I understand you to take this position, that you objected to 
the coloring of oleomargarine because it assisted oleomargarine in sell- 
ing for an article which it was not? — A. That is the objection. 

Q. As you say, it does not necessarily follow that this colored but- 
ter sells for a higher price. — A. It is not colored in imitation of a more 
valuable article. That is the point. 

Senator Harris. Bad butter is. 

Answer. Bad butter speaks for itself. 

Senator Harris. Very loudly, generally; but it is very often sophis- 
ticated. For example, the butter which has accumulated in the 
country-store cellar, which has been in contact with the red herring 
and the codfish all summer long, and made from an infinite variety of 
sources, is brought together, manipulated, and colored up. That is 
butter, of course. It is still butter. But that is palmed off, by means 
of colors and by means of working over in various ways, as a superior 
article and at a higher price than it deserves. Is not that the ease? 

Answer. In our State we passed at the last session of the legisla- 
tnre a law which requires that such made-over butter be labeled; but 
it is not possible by any process of coloring to make ordinary or poor 
butter good butter. 

Q. You do not require to make it good butter, as a matter of course, 
but you make somebody who buys it believe it is good butter and pay 
the price of good butter. — A. Butter is not bought by the eye alto- 
gether, but by the eye and the taste. 

Q. Well, that is very true, and that ought to protect you gentlemen 
very largely and thoroughly against this imitation which you com- 
plain so much about, if its characteristics are so marked. — A. We 
complain because another and very much cheaper article is colored 
and sold for a more valuable article, because it then becomes a coun- 
terfeit. My experience in Wisconsin during four years administra- 
tion of the dairy-food laws of that State is this: That the wholesaler 
who sells oleomargarine knows what he is selling; that the jobber and 
the wholesaler in our State who purchase it know what they are bu;^ - 
ing; that the retailer who has a Government license knows what h^- 
buys; that the boarding-house keeper and the keeper of a restaurant 
and these cheap places where the meals are sold know what they are 
buying; but the man who boards in the boarding-house and the cheap 
restaurant and goes around the country does not know what he is buy- 
ing when he calls for butter and gets butterine; that the butterine is 
finally consumed as and for butter, and that, no matter how low a 
grade of eating house it is, so far as cheapness is concerned, men are 
very rare who will go in there and ask for or desire butterine, and it 
could not be sold if it was not colored in imitation of yellow butter. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 209 

Q. I would like to ask you with regard to this coloring matter. 
What is that coloring matter generally used in, either or both? — A. 
There are two kinds of coloring matter on the market at the present 
time, as the professors have stated— annatto coloring matters and those 
made with the so-called anilines. The latter have come into more gen- 
eral use latel}' because of the i)ermanence of color which they give. 
They are unquestionably poisonous to a greater or less degree. Re- 
cently in Wisconsin a child was killed by finding a bottle of one of 
these coloring matters and drinking a portion of it, whether one or 
two teaspoonsful, I am not fully informed, but a comparatively small 
amount, and it resulted in death. 

Q. That is the coloring matter which is becoming more popular and 
and more generally used? — A. More generally used by the manufac- 
turers, and it is a question whether or not it could be sold under the 
l^ure-food laws of either Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Xew York, 
Ohio, or Massachusetts. 

Q. I understood you to say that this coloring matter is used in both 
of these food products? — A. It is. 

Q. Both butter and oleomargarine? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything of the nse of boracic acid, boric acid, or 
any such compound or preservative for butter? — A. We prohibit its 
use in Wisconsin in milk. 

Q. It is prohibited in that State? — A. Yes. We consider it injuri- 
ous or that the tendency of it is deleterious to public health. 

Q. In your experience as a food commissioner is there a desire or 
tendency to use it if it were not prohibited? — A. Yes ; it is very largely 
advertised in our State, and when used is used as a rule to cover uj) 
shiftlessness and carelessness in handling milk, for which there is no 
excuse. 

Q. It is just as was testified a while ago, that the use of antiseptics 
tends to cover errors and carelessness in preparation? — A. Errors in 
business. And the tendency is injurious to public health beyond 
question. 

An adjournment was here taken until 10.30 o'clock May 12, 1899. 



May 12, 1899. 
The committee met at 10.45 o'clock a. m. 
Present, Senator Harris. 

STATEMENT OF GEORGE W. YORK. 

George W. York, being dnlj sworn, testified as follows in response 
to questions by Senator Harris : 

Senator Harris. Please give your name and residence. 

Answer. George W. York, 2661 North Robey street. Station X, 
Chicago. 

Q. Your prof ession or occupation? — A. I am editor of the American 
Bee Journal. 

Q. Mr. York, you are familiar, of course, then, with the production 
and sale of honey? — A. Somewhat. 

Q. We would be glad to have you give the committee any informa- 
tion with regard to adulterations of honey, whether injurious or simply 
dilutions. — A. We find, of course, that the liquid honey is the kind 
F P 14 



210 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

mostlj^ adulterated; not that the adulteration is particularly harmful, 
but more in the nature of deception and fraud upon the public. They 
adulterate mainly with glucose, which is a very much cheaper article 
than pure honey. I understand that commercial glucose can be bought 
for about 1 cent a pound, while pure liquid honey is worth from 7 to 8 
cents a pound. 

Q. That is simply a mechanical mixture of glucose and honey? — 
A. That is all — accomplished by the dealers, who buy the honey 
directly from the producers and then adulterate it after getting it into 
their warehouses or stores. 

Q. You think that is largelj^ practiced? — A. I am very positive of it. 
You will find it in nearly all the groceries, to the great detriment of 
the sale of the pure article, which is mainly put up in small glasses, 
with a piece of comb in the glass and then the glucose poui'ed over it. 
We have some samples here. If you wish to see them we will be glad 
to show you what we have found in the groceries. 

Q. There is nothing that can be discovered by the naked eye, is 
there, to show that it has been tampered with? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Or adulterated? — A. I think not. The taste, of course, is very 
distinct — a taste of glucose ; at least, I have educated myself so that 
I think I can spot glucose almost invariably. 

Q. Simply by the taste? — A. Simply by the taste — that is, when 
there is 25 per cent or over of glucose in it. 

Q. You do not regard that adulteration as injurious to health, but 
as simply a fraud upon the public? — A. Not unless the use of glucose 
is injurious, and I am not enough of a chemist to state that. 

Q. Is there any way by which honey in the comb can be tampered 
with or adulterated? — A. There *is not, to my knowledge. All the 
comb honey ujjon the market is absolutely pure. 

Q. Do the men who keep bees and produce honey use glucose as a 
food for bees? — A. They do not, for the reason that the bees will not 
eat it. It was attempted some years ago in Mississippi. Some Chi- 
cago bee keepers took several hundred pounds of bees to Mississippi, 
expecting to feed them glucose. They got them down there and 
began to feed them glucose, and in a short time the bees were all 
dead. It killed them. Bees will not eat glucose. 

Senator Harris. It is not healthy for bees, at least. 

The Witness. It is not healthy for bees, at least. I am well 
acquainted with one of the gentlemen who took the bees to Missis- 
sippi. He told me this. He was in my office the other day. 

Q. How is the sale of honey affected in those States which have 
pure-food laws, Mr. York? Is the sale of pure honey jDrotected? — A. 
Yes; to a great extent; but very few States have pure-food laws as 
affecting honey. 

Q. There are a few? — A. I think Minnesota, perhaps, has a pure- 
food law, and they have succeeded in driving out the impure article 
almost wholly . 

Q. In other words, legislation can be made effective? — A. Yes, sir; 
it can. And that is all that the bee keepers ask for, is a good law 
affecting pure honey — that the articles offered for sale shall be labeled. 

Q. By a label which will definitely state what it is? — A. Yes, sir. If 
people wish to buy glucose, they have the privilege to do so, and should 
get what they pay for. There would be at least five times the amount 
of pure honey sold in this city or consumed here if people were not 
afraid of the adulterated article. They are afraid to purchase for 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 211 

fear of getting the adulterated article. I'hey seem to think that all 
honey is adulterated. So they are afraid of it, 

Q, Is there anj^ other adulterant used that could be considered 
injurious? — A. Excepting glucose? 

Q, Excepting glucose, — A, I think hardly in honey, because of the 
expense of the other adulterants. 

Q. Is there anything ever used in the way of an antiseptic preserv- 
ative of either pure honej^ or its substitutes? — A, I think not, for the 
reason that pure honey will keep almost indefinitely. It needs no 
preservative. Some years ago they found some honey in one of the 
catacombs in Egypt, done up with a mummy. That was two thou- 
sand j^ears old, but it was just as good as ever. 

Q, Does pure honey never granulate? — A, Yes, sir; nearly all j)ure 
honey will granulate in time. Some honey requires perhaps two years 
before it will granulate. Other honey will granulate in one month. 

Q. Isn't it desirable to prevent granulation? — A. Yes, it is, but for 
only one purpose, I think, and that is for the grocer. People feel 
when liouey is granulated that it is sugar. And another reason is that 
they like to have it liquid because it looks better in the glass — for the 
sake of appearances. 

Q. You say thei-e is nothing used to prevent that granulation? — A, 
I think not to any extent, at least. It would be very desirable 

Q. To any extent? — A. Not that I know of. It has been said that 
putting a certain proportion of water into pure honey will prevent its 
granulating, but of course that is an adulteration, the same as putting 
water in milk, although not harmful. 

Q. (Referring to certain samples produced by the witness.) These 
are samples of honey which are supposed to have glucose mixed with 
it? — A. Yes, sir. Here [indicating] is one which has a piece of comb 
in it, and although I have tasted it, yet I imagine it is nearly all glu- 
cose with a piece of comb. The price is another item which gives it 
away. We paid 8 cents for that sample [indicating], while the pure 
honey would retail at 15 cents. 

Q. Of course the public can not judge, because they do not know 
what the proper price of pure honey is. — A. That is verj^ true. 

Q. Where is a sample of pure honey, absolutely pure? — A. (Pro- 
ducing a sample.) I will guarantee that tin- topped jar as being abso- 
lutely pure. I put that up myself, 

Q. What percentage of glucose do you suppose is in that [referring 
to another sample], or have you any means of knowing? — A. No, I 
have not ; only I have the statement from one of the adulterators here 
in the city, who says, he j)uts in one-eighth honey and the balance 
glucose. 

Q. That is glucose adulterated with honey? — A. It should be sold 
as glucose instead of honey. We find that nearly all of the large 
wholesale groceries in this city, and in other cities also, adulterate it. 
In fact, I have found adulterated articles in the line of honey from 
St. Louis. At the fair one time I found it — nearly all glucose, with 
comb honey put into it. 

Q. Yoa think the interests of the consumers of pure honey and of 
the producers of pure honey would be properly protected simply by 
a law which would require labeling? — A. I have no doubt of it. That 
is what we are working for in the bee-keeping associations and also 
in our publications. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I would like to ask Mr. York in regard to 
the piece of comb. I see you have a^ piece of it there. — A. Yes, sir. 



212 ADULTEEATIOW OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Q. Of what is that made? — A. The comb foundation is made out of 
pure beeswax. It is melted and dipped on boards and then peeled off 
the boards in sheets and run through rollers, and that forms the basis 
of the cells. You see on each side the same shape of the cells. And 
this is put into the center of the empty box and then put in the hive, 
and the bees draw out this comb, lengthen the cells and add more 
wax to it, and then it is sealed over after being filled. 

Senator Harris. It serves as a foundation for the bees to work on? 

Answer. It serves as a foundation for the bees to build the comb 
straight, and also to fasten it around the edge so as to help in ship- 
ping. If that were not so well fastened around the edges of the box, 
it would break down in shipping. 

Q. That is made of absolutely pure beeswax? — ^A. Absolutely pure 
beeswax. 

Q. The same substance which the bee would use? — A. Yes, sir. 
They have experimented with paraflin and other wax, but they find it 
will not do because the heat of the hive melts it down. This (beeswax) 
melts at a higher degree of temperature. 

Q. Does your observation indicate that the bee would exercise any 
discrimination; that is, that the bee would object to working upon a 
foundation of i)aralfin? — A. Yes; on paraffin and ceresin both. They 
do not take to it as well as they do to the natural wax. 

Q. They recognize it as something foreign? — A. Yes, sir. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Are you acquainted with any proposed 
mechanical appliances, for instance, patents which claim to be able 
to build up the entire cells? 

Answer. I brought this sample purposely to show the extent to 
which they have arrived in making the depth of the cell. This is the 
deepest they make to-day. This is called the thin-base foundation, 
from A. R. Rowe & Co., and this is the deepest cell they make to-day. 
Last year they made something deeper, nearly half an inch, I think; 
but that was not a success, and they have abandoned it entirely. 
They lost $2,000 in their experiments. 

Q. You think it is mechanically impossible to make a deep cell? — 
A. Yes, sir; I do. There has been an offer of $1,000 standing for 
about fifteen years to anyone who will produce one pound of comb 
honey without the intervention of a base, and that offer has not yet 
been taken. 

Q. Do you think it is possible to make a comb which sufficiently 
resembles the natural comb to be put into a jar with glucose so as to 
make people believe it to be the natural comb? — A. Yes; I believe a 
person who was not acquainted with the manufacture of comb might 
be deceived about it; but they can not make the cells nearly the 
depth of the natural comb. 

Q. But you think that the artificial comb might be dropped into one 
of these bottles so as to deceive a customer into thinking it was the 
natural comb? — A. I presume if they cut them up and put them into 
a bottle it might deceive customers. 

Senator Harris. Just at that point. Would it be commercially 
profitable, do you think? Would the expense of manufacturing the 
comb compare with the cost of the natural comb? 

Answer. Oh, yes; I think so, so long as they would not have to 
seal it. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. They would not need to in a case of that 
kind? 

Answer. No, sir; thev would not need to. That is not veryexpen- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 213 

sive. I think that retails at 75 cents a pound, and there are lO or 12 
square feet in a pound. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I have opened many bottles which have been 
covered in, and the comb seemed to be fragmentary. 

The Witness. What was the depth of the cell? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Sometimes half an inch deep and sometimes 
shorter, and fiequently float ing around, broken-up cells. I could not 
say that those were artificial, and yet I have often suspected tliat they 
were made of artificial material and were not the genuine cells. 

The Witness. I am acquainted somewhat with the dealers on the 
streets in Chicago, who handle honey in large quantities, and they 
very often get in comb honey that is unsealed, partly sealed, etc., 
and they nearly always sell it to the adulterators, to be cut up and 
put into these jars. It is almost the full-depth cell, but unsealed. 
I was in a grocery store yesterday, where I saw on the shelf seven or 
eight of these boxes, and I i^resume fhey were not ever sealed. They 
sell a good deal of that to the adulterators. 

Q. Those were taken from the hive before the bees had completed 
their work? — A. Yes, sir. It should never have been sent to the mar- 
ket in that condition. 

Q. Mr. York, what would be your definition of pure honey? — A. I 
ought to be ready for that. Pure honey is the nectar of flowers, 
gathered by the bees and stored in combs made by them. There 
must be a transformation in there. 

Q. Would you exclude strained honej'' from that definition? Such 
honey as you show there? — A. From pure honey? 

Q. Yes; would j^ou make a distinction? — A. No; that is the same 
honey, except it is out of the comb. It is combless honey. 

Q. Extracted? — A. Extracted. It is honey the same as the other, 
except it is out of the comb. 

Q. Is it customary for bee growers to feed sugar or sirup to b0es? — 
A. It is for the purpose of keeping them alive, but not to any extent 
for the purpose of producing honey. 

Q. If honey were produced by feeding sugar or sirup to bees, would 
you regard that as true honey? — A. I would not. That is simply 
getting the bees to adulterate, instead of the peoj^le doing it them- 
selves. I should so regard it. But I think that is practiced so little 
that it really has very little bearing on the crop as produced ; but of 
course they do feed sugar for the purpose of wintering the bees, in 
case of a very jDoor season. In the fall of the year they will feed them 
to carry them through the winter ; and of course some have fed sugar to 
produce honey, but it is not profitable, on account of the expense of 
the sugar, for one thing, and then the waste in transforming. 

Q. Do you know anything about honey made from pine trees? — 
A. I do not. I never had a sample of it, nor heard of it, I think. 

Q. Called pine-tree honey? — A. I never have heard of it. 

Q. Do you know anything about the honey made from the wild 
sage? — A. California sage? 

Q. Yes. — A. I have had samples of that; yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. Sage brush? 

Answer. Sage brush. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Does that differ from honey made from 
white clover in any respect except color? 

Answer. And fiavor. 

Q. It has a flavor which is different? — A. It has a very different 
flavor. 



214 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. In chemical properties, do you know whether there is any dif- 
ference? — A. I could not. answer that. I have never analyzed it. 
There is one jar here [indicating a sample]. Here is a jar which has 
on it the words " Calif ornia White Clover Honey." Anyone who is 
fandliar at all with the honej^ produced in different States would 
know at once that this honej^ never saw California. They do not 
produce white-clover honey in California. At least I have never 
heard of a pound being, shipped out of that State. White clover 
maj' grow there, but 30 far as we know it does not secrete sufficient 
nectar to feed tlie bees. So that label, to anyone who knows, would 
be a fraud uj)ou the face of it. That is put up by a city firm here. — 
" California White Clover Honey." 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I would like to state, for the benefit of the 
committee, that I have analj^zed many hundreds of samples of bees' 
honeys, and that a very large percentage — I could not exactly state 
how much, but an enormous percentage — of the strained honeys are 
adulterated honeys. At least, when I made my examination several 
3'^ears ago it was the exception and not the rule to find a pure honey 
in the strained form in the open market. 

The Witness. That is very true. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. And especially the circumstance which I 
mention, of a liiece of comb found in a jar of this kind. I never found 
a sample of that kind of honey that was genuine. The existence of a 
piece of comb in a jar like that would be iDositive proof to me that 
it was an adulterated article, because comb honey is not sold that 
way. These combs are never perfect that we find inside of these jars. 
They have the appearance of either having been broken down mechan- 
ically, as in the process of extraction by centrifugal force, and then 
those empty combs put in, or of having been made artificially and 
dropped in. Thej"^ are simply fragmentary combs. 

Senator Harris. It is a case of protesting too much. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is really positive proof of adulteration to 
see one of these pieces of comb in a jar. 

The Witness. And one reason for the positiveness of that is that 
bee keepers themselves never put up hone}' in that wa3^ It is nearly 
always done bj' the adulterators themselves. Bee keepers do not sell 
their honey in a glass with a piece of comb in it. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. What is the objection of selling all honey in 
the comb? 

Answer. One great objection is the fact of its granulating so^oon; 
and after houej^ has once granulated in the comb the only thing that 
can be done with it is to eat it in that form, or melt it up and extract 
the wax and get the extracted hone5^ But it is almost impossible to 
retail granulated comb honey; I tried that here in the city. 

Q. Is it difficult to retail extract honey? — A. It is, for the reason 
that people think it is sugar; but as soon as they learn that all pure 
honey will granulate they will never buy the liquid. They are certain 
of getting the pure honey in the granulated form. 

Q. Mr. York, do you know of any adulteration of honej" with invert 
sugar? — A. I do not. I think that glucose is almost the only aduitei- 
ant used with honey. 

Chief Chemist WiLEY. In this countr^^ I think that is quite true, 
that glucose is practicall}' the only adulterant used. In Europe, where 
the laws are more stringent, invert sugar has been very largely used 
for adulterating lione3\ This makes the problem of the chemist very 
much more difficult. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 21^ 

Senator Harris. What is invert sugar? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Invert sugar is ordinary sugar, such as we 
use on our tables, which is treated with an acid which converts it into 
a mixture of dextrose and lebulose, and that is almost the exact com- 
position of natural honey. The nectar of flowers is originally com- 
mon sugar. 

Senator Harris. It is decomijosed? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. It is a hydrolysis, a decomposition, and by 
natural processes and by the action of the organism of the bee the 
sugar in the nectar is converted into invert sugar and deposited by 
the bee in that form, so that natural sugar contains at most only a 
trace, or 2 or 3 per cent — natural honey, I should say, contains at most 
onlj' a trace, or 2 or 3 per cent, of cane sugar. The kind of honey I 
spoke of a moment ago as having been formed by feeding bees sugar 
sirup, the bees are not able to invert the whole of it, and all such 
honey shows a large percentage of cane sugar, so that it is easilj'' 
detected by the chemist. 

The Witness. I am glad to know that. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. He will detect it as easily as glucose honey 
is detected. Natural honey, when examined by the polariscope, 
always sho'ws a left-handed rotation. It rotates the plane of poiai'i- 
zation to the left. Cane sugar and glucose both rotate the plane of 
polarization to the right. So that a simple examination with the 
polariscope will show sufficiently to distinguish an impure from a pure 
honey. There is a honey, however, gathered from the pine tree, 
which, according to the definition given, which I consider a just one — 
it is a nectar gathered from plants by bees — which is a right-handed 
honey, and in the courts sometimes it has been claimed, in cases of 
prosecution for adulteration, that the right-hand polarization has been 
due to the gathering of the honey from the pine trees. This honey 
often onlj' exudes at one season of the year — in the climate of North 
Carolina, say, in May — and is only gathered in a very short time and 
to a very limited extent, and has a very rank taste, so that it is not 
fit to use. And the taste will show people how to distinguish, where 
a claim of that kind is made, that that is the only honey which con- 
tains cane sugar. I never have had in all my experience but one 
sample of pine-tree honey out of thousands of samples. 

The Witness. It is surprising that I have never seen a sample. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I do not Suppose it ever reaches this far. 

The Witness. No. I would like to ask. Professor, if I may, whether 
glucose, as used in honey adulterated, is injurious to the system? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. That is a question that has been pretty well 
discussed before the committee alreadj^, and I have already expressed 
my opinion in former testimon3^ 

The Witness. All right. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. You think that a national law regulating 
commerce between the States in adulterated honeys would be bene- 
ficial to the bee keeper? 

Answer. I do think it would. 

Q. Do you think it has ever been the practice among the bee 
keepers themselves to adulterate their honey before bringing it to 
market? — A. I do not. I think I never knew of but one bee keeper 
who was accused of adulterating honey, in the fifteen years that I have 
known bee keepers. I think that was a clear case. 

Q. You think the adulteration is entirely accomplished by the job- 
bers? — A. I do. 



216 ADULTERATION" OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. And not by the retailers? — A. I tliink not, for the reason that 
the retailers seldom put up the honey in glasses. It is nearly always 
the wholesale grocers. 

Q. You are quite positive that the general opinion, which is the 
true one, that honey is adulterated, has hurt the sale of all kinds of 
honey? — A. I am very sure of it, for the reason that when a person 
buys this adulterated stuff and once tastes it, he says, " If that is 
honey, I don't want any more of it ; " and a doctor friend of mine, when 
I first met him, said he could not eat honey; that it always made him 
sick. I said, "You have never had any pure honey," and I gave him 
some honey which I knew was pure, and he ate it right along, and it 
never hurt him at all. 

Chief Chemist WiLEY. Pure honey sometimes produces nausea. 

Answer. Sometimes. 

Senator Harris. Pure honey sometimes produces eruptions of the 
skin, does it not? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. There are some forms of honey which are 
absolutely poisonous to some people. 

The Witness, From the mountain laurel, I believe. Where we find 
that it is injurious to the stomach, we advise the use of milk in con- 
nection with it, and it helps to overcome the effect. 

Senator Harris. I believe that is all, Mr. York, unless you have 
something special to which you wish to call the attention of the com- 
mittee. 

The Witness. I think there is nothing further, only I hope the result 
will be a national pure-food law which will cover all these frauds. 



STATEMENT OF MRS. N. L. STOWE. 

Mrs. N. L. Stowe, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 

Senator Harris. Please give your name, Mrs. Stowe. 

Answer. Mrs. N. L. Stowe. 

Q. Your residence. — A. Evanston, 111. 

Q. And your occupation. — A. I call myself a bee keeper, but I am 
really a home keeper. 

Mr. MooRE. She has kept 80 swarms of bees, and we think she is 
one of the most celebrated lady be^ keepers in this country. 

Senator Harris. I should think that would be sufficient to estab- 
lish it as an occupation. 

Q. Mrs. Stowe, the committee will be very glad to hear what you 
can tell us with reference to the adulteration of honey and the impos- 
ing upon the public by substitutes and things of that kind. — A. I 
don't know that I can tell anything more than has been said, but I 
should indorse all that Mr. York has said. 

Q. You fully agree with his statements? — A. I do; yes. 

Q. As to the manner and extent to which honey is adulterated?— 
A. I do. I think it does great harm to the bee-keeping fraternity. 

Q. As well as being a fraud upon the public?— A. Yes. It may be 
all right to sell that stuff if they call it glucose, or a mixture, but I 
think it is a harm to us to have it labeled "honey." 

Q. You have no knowledge of bee keepers adulterating honey? — A. 
I have none at all. 

Q. You think with Mr. York that it is done by the jobbers princi- 
pally? — A. I think it is. I don't think it is done by the retail mer- 



ADULTEKATION" OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 217 

chants; but I think there are firms in Chicago that make a business 
of adulterating honey. 

Q. You think with Mr. York that a lawto comj)el these mixtures 
to be labeled would be a sufficient protection? It would enable people 
to distinguish the true from the false? — A. I should think so. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Do you ever feed your bees any artificial 
food, Mrs. Stowe? — A. No; I do not. 

Q. Not even during the winter or early spring? — A. I have always 
been able to have my bees gather enough in the fall to keep them 
through the winter. I have never been obliged to feed. Some do 
have to feed their bees to winter them over, when they take too much 
of the surj)lus from them in the summer and fall; but I have never 
done that. 

Q. Do you use a comb foundation in your hives? — ^A. I do. 

Q. Such as has been described here? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You do not consider that an adulteration if made of pure bees- 
wax? — A. No; I do not. 

Q. Do you think it is ever made of a mixture of paraffin and bees- 
wax or ceresin? — A. I don't think it would work well in a hive if it 
was. Paraffin melts too easily; it is not strong enough. 

Q. You do know, though, that many attempts have been made to 
make this adulteration, do you not? — A. I have read that it has been 
tried, but that it does not i^rove satisfactory. 

Senator Harris. I do not think of anything else, Mrs. Stowe. We 
are very much obliged to you for helping us in this matter. 

STATEMENT OF HERMAN F. MOORE. 

Herman F. Moore, being duly sworn, testified as follows, in 
response to questions by Senator Harris: 

Senator Harris. Please give your name, address, and occuijation. 

Answer. Herman F. Moore, Park Ridge, 111. We are a familj^ of 
bee keepers. Our folks have kept bees for about thirty years, and I 
personally have been connected with the business for close to fifteen 
years. 

■ Q. Have you any other occupation? Have you any connection witli 
the bee keepers as a whole? — A. I am secretary and treasurer of the 
local organization, the Chicago Bee Keepers' Association, and am 
. also a member of the national organization of bee keepers, called now 
United States Bee Keepers' Association, which is national in charac- 
ter, and one of whose objects is expressly the prevention of the adul- 
teration of honey, or, I should say, the fraudulent adulteration of 
honey. 

Q. Have you anj^thing that you can bring to the attention of the 
committee in that direction? — A. It is a little hard to add anything 
after Mr. York's testimon3^ because he pretty nearly covered the 
case. I do not recall anything that he said but what I would have to 
say "yes" to. 

Q. You fully indorse all the statements that he has made? — A. 
Yes. One of the first things that came to my notice years ago, when 
I first began to sell honey to the public, was that a piece of comb 
honey in liquid honey was a badge of fraud, a thing that bee keepers 
never practiced. 

Q. That is a practice of the men who adulterate? — A. Yes, sir. It 
is in the nature of a deception. I would like to make a remark here 



218 ADULTERATIOISr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

that perhaps would cause some good. Professor Wiley has raised the 
question about the manufacture of comb honey. That is a question 
which we have fought very hard, for several reasons. I tell my friends 
and customers that it is mechanically and commercially impossible; 
mechanically impossible that a man can make beeswax that will satisfy 
the man who chews it in his mouth. He will not make it clean enough 
or light enough ; and it is commercially impossible because the bees 
work cheaper than man can, even with the verj^ finest machinery or the 
cheapest labor. You must remember that in a very favored locality', 
with a large number of bees and a man who is exi3ert in the business, 
comb honey can be raised for 2 or 3 cents a pound. For instance, 
Cuba. I mean the cost to the bee keeper who is established, and in 
countries where there is from ten to twelve months each year in, which 
honey can be raised. 

Q. To what extent does that apply to this foundation? — A. Well, the 
foundation has nothing to do with this point. The foundation is sim- 
ply an aid to the bees, and the great reason for using a foundation, as 
I see it, is that our honey crop is short from one to two or three months, 
and if the bees spend part of the time building comb they lose part of 
the crop. It is an aid to the bees. 

Q. You say that the comb can not be imitated so as to be satisfac- 
tory to the person who chews it? This foundation can be made? — 
A. That is one of the points right here, Senator, that I wish to 
make. The largest use of this comb foundation is in what is known 
to bee keepers as the board department of the hive. The public must 
understand that in order to understand intelligently this question. 
To-day bee hives are composed of two structures. The board depart- 
ment is perhaps a foot high, and then the upper frame, which would 
naturally, if you are raising comb honej^ be half that height ; and 
the comb foundation is more largely used; I should say 9 pounds of 
it is used in the permanent part of the hive to 1 pound that is used in 
the surplus or pound sections. I will have to go a little further so 
you will understand it thoroughly. The comb foundation used in the 
board department may be used for fifteen or twenty years. We never 
destroy it. The bees fill it with young bees and honey year after year, 
and we keep it as long as it will hold together, and we keep the bees, 
which you see leaves the cost to us almost nothing as compared with 
these benefits. 

Q. I understood Mr. York to sa,y that it was used in cases which 
were to be taken out and sold because it guided the bees and made 
a more perfect and symmetrical comb and better attachment to the 
frame. — A. That is correct, but I believe the percentage of bee keep- 
ers who use it in the 1-pound sections is very small as compared 
with the others. And I advise never to use it in those, because I find 
the public is superstitious. They often ask me: "Did the bees make 
all of that?" I say, "Yes, sir." I believe they make nine-tenths of 
it, because in one-tenth they use the foundation, and in the other 
nine-tenths the bees have done the whole operation ; and they clearly 
object to eating anything that man has made, even though it is as clean 
and pure as this comb foundation is. They want the comb honey, and 
they want it entirely the act of the bees. 

Q. Anything artificial brings in at once suspicion. — A. Yes, sir ; that 
is clearly the point. I have sold to the jJublic in the retail trade for 
twelve or thirteen years at least. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. What do you think the effect of the sale of 
these spurious honeys has upon the price of the genuine article? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 219 

Answer. Well, Professor, that is the very hardest question you could 
have asked. I will have to make a statement in order to cover it. 
The effect of bad honey in the stores is this : The man who buys it 
will eat a little of it and throw it awaj^ and stop buying altogether 
from the stores. He has a prejudice against it and thinks he can not 
buy Siny good honey at all and stops buying honej^ Just what the 
effect of that would be on the sale of honey, whether it would throw 
a lot of it back on the bee keepers' hands, and thereby lower the 
price, or whether it would raise the price— it would clearfy raise the 
price of honey in the hands of accredited parties, parties who could 
sell it with a certain amount of their own individual faith with their 
goods. 

Q. Do you approve of the process of extracting honej^ for the trade? — 
A. Professor Wiley, that is a question that we have not anything to 
do with. The trade asks for liquid honey, nine-tenths of it. Cake 
bakers and candy makers and roach-poison makers and druggists and 
private families, nine-tenths of them, require liquid honey without 
the comb. 

Q. Don't you think people prefer comb honey for table use? — A. 
They do not. Professor. My trade for twelve or thirteen years has 
been with families, and the trade is nine-tenths of it in liquid honey, 
if they understand that it is always pure honey, as ours has always 
been. 

Q. Isn't that largely because liquid honey is cheaper? — A. I have 
sold the two at the same price uniformly. 

Q. The}^ prefer the liquid? — A. Uniformly. I have sold the two at 
the same price. They say, " Here is a loss of 15 per cent." 

Q. That is sold in as weight for honey, is it? — A. That by custom 
is called honey, the whole of it, and it costs the bee man more than 
the liquid honey, and consequentlj^ it is perfectly right that it should, 
as a matter of reason. When we extract the honey, "we take a thin 
sheet of wax from the top or the walls on both sides. That is put in 
a centrifugal machine, which whirls it rapidly or slowly, as j^ou please, 
and the honey is thrown out by centrifugal motion. The wood pro- 
tects the wax, and there is the readj^-made honey pocket that the bees 
fill at once, and you never need to build it again as long as you keep 
bees. 

Senator Harris. The cost of extraction is more than repaid by 
retaining the frame and the foundation in that way? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I should consider that its being used over and 
over again is worth 75 cents a pound, and the honey, I take it, they 
may get perhaps 25 cents a pound for. 

Q. And the producer would rather sell liquid honey? — A. Yes; it 
is a more scientific act to raise comb honey than liquid honey; much 
more so. It takes more experience, and you can pretty nearly dupli- 
cate the yield of honey from the serum of bees bj^ extracting it and 
returning the emi)ty comb to be refilled, which would be done several 
times a season if the honej^ is in the flowers. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. How often can good comb, with a good 
foundation in the center, be extracted without destroying it as a 
comb — how manj^ times? 

Answer. It can be used twenty-five or thirty times. 

Q. Right along? — A. Yes. Wood catches all the knocks; and the 
bees have fastened it so permanently^ and firmly to the wood that the 
wax itself gets no particular strain. 



220 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Q. Yon extract one side at a time? — A. Yes; because the inner side 
does not have the whirling motion. It must be reversed. 

Q. You think a law regulating interstate commerce in adulterated 
honeys would be beneficial to the bee keepers? — A. I do not put it, 
Professor, on such a narrow ground as that. I think we are one great 
people and must stand or fall together. I say a law which prevents a 
fraud upon the one who eats tlie honey will benefit everybody. It 
will benefit you, if you buy honey to make cough sirup for your baby, 
that you will not get any bad ingredient. It will benefit the bee 
keeper, in that people will believe when honey is sold as honey that it 
is honey. I think it will be clearly beneficial to ev^erybody. 

Senator Harris. You think that it would increase the demand for 
pure honey and decrease the demand for adulterated honey? 

Answer. I think clearly so. I think anything sold under false col- 
ors — I think honey sold under its true colors — adulterated honey sold 
under its true colors would not sell at all. 

Q. Even although the cost of the pure honej^ would be considerably 
greater than that of the adulterated? — A. I consider, Senator, that it 
would cut oft" the sale 75 or 80 per cent if it was sold under its true 
colors, the adulterated goods. 

Q. That it is not altogether a matter of cheapness that controls people 
in buying it? — A. I think not. 

Q. A great many substitutes are recommended, because it is said 
that it brings a particularly good article within the power of the poorer 
classes to purchase. Don't you think that would have some effect, 
that argument would have some force, even in the matter of honey? — 
A. It would have some force, undoubtedly, but I feel sure that it 
would cut off the sale of adulterated honey, spurious honey, very 
much. 

Q. It would at least be honest business. — A, It would be honest 
business, and that is the main thing after all. The people who buy 
this cheap honey are not the very smallest class at all. They tend 
toward the ignorant class, who do not look as carefully as some others 
would at the quality of their goods; and if they see a label on the out- 
side which says "pure honej^" they are apt to take it. 

Senator Harris. I believe that is all. 

The Witness. One thing I wanted to add. Professor Wiley asked 
about comb honey being used in jars. There are hundreds of thou- 
sands of these little sections which are not well filled wiiich get into 
the hands of the bee keepers, and also which have gotten to market 
from some bee keeper who was not up to date. No up-to-date bee 
keeper sends honey to market which is not nicely kept. So that there 
would be hundreds of thousands of bees' sections with no capping on 
them, if they chose to go out and hunt them up, for the uses of the 
fraudulent honey bottlers. 

STATEMENT OF GEORGE M. STERNE. 

George M. Sterne, being duly sworn, testifies as follows : 
Examination by Senator Harris : 

Q. Please give your name. — A. George M. Sterne. 

Q. What is your occupation? — A. On the board of trade. In the 
commission business. 

Q. You handle quantities of all sorts of food products? — A. A good 
deal; j'es, sir. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 221 

Q. Of course, Mr. Sterne, you understand the objects of this com- 
mittee? — A. No; I do not exactly. Senator. 

Q. In brief, it is simply to endeavor to ascertain fully and satis- 
factorily the extent to which adulteration is practiced, and not only 
adulteration as a whole, but in two asj)ects, one of which would sim- 
ply be a fraud upon the purchaser, selling him a substitute which 
might be harmless, and the other selling him something which would 
be absolutely injurious to the health of the purchaser if consumed. 
Now, we would be glad— of course, j^ou have had an opportunity to 
see a good deal of this adulteration, if it is done, or to come in contact 
with it in various ways, and if you can give us information in that 
direction it would be a i^ublic benefit. — A. I was prompted to come 
down to see the committee from some articles I read in the i^apers day 
before yesterday in connection with oleomargarine. I have been 
connected with the business since its beginning, in 1879, in this 
country; and I noticed there were some witnesses who testified«in 
reference to oleomargarine, and none of the evidence given was what 
I thought the committee ought to have in connection with that i^roduct; 
and there were witnesses here who could have testified in connection 
with the butter business, and they gave no evidence in connection 
with that at all, and I thought the information I had in hand ought 
to at least be brought before the committee, so that people who are 
engaged in that business could also be subpoenaed to come here and 
tell wdiat they know and what they are doing about the washing of 
what we call gangrened butter. I know of a number of firms who 
are supposed to be in that business, and if the members were brought 
here they could tell what they are doing in tlie matter. 

We began to make oleomargarine in 1870, and it is made to-day 
almost identicall}^ as it was at that time, out of absolutely the purest 
fats there are in the world ; and while I have gotten out of the busi- 
ness and have no interest in the business at all, I have alwaj^s been 
an enthusiast in the production of oleomargarine. Professor Wiley 
will tell you that all through the examinations by the chemists and 
microscopists of the Government I have furnished them samples of 
all the fats they desired, and have done it with a great deal of 
enthusiasm, and have given them just exactly the products they were 
using, and was interested in the objection to the passage of a law 
placing a 2-cent tax u|3on oleomargarine. I learned that one of the 
witnesses the other day, who is the editor of a paper which I see lying 
upon the table here, is making a very aggressive, as he supposes, 
warfare, and inducing people throughout the country to put up money 
and get a bicycle or a prize for the advancement of the tax to 10 cents 
a pound; and my object in coming here is to explain why oleomar- 
garine is, next to one food, and that is lionej^, and probably rice — 
speaking of pure honey and rice — the purest food product in the 
world. There is nothing purer than oleomargarine. 

Q. In the manufacture of oleomargarine tliere is nothing that 
comes under the head of adulteration? — A. Absolutelj' nothing; it 
has no adulteration in it whatever. 

Q. It is manufactured as a compound of butter and oleomargarine 
occasionally, is it not, or frequently? — A, That is not the way we put 
it at all. No oleomargarine maker to-daj^ uses any butter. 

Senator Harris. That I should be glad to know. I had understood 
that butter was used in the manufacture of oleomargarine. 

Answer. In this way: We take the butter fat from the bullock, just 
as it comes from the same feed, the same grass, the same everything 



222 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

that the cow feeds on. Those fats are taken and processed onlj^ to 
the extent that they are cooked ; tliat the tallow element, as we call 
it, is withdrawn from it, taken out by an entirely mechanical process 
which leaves the butter fat absolutely, as far as chemistry has been 
able to determine, the same butter fat that is produced by the milk 
of the cow, and is far superior, for the reason that there is no dete- 
rioration from the time the fat is placed within the hand of the 
mechanic to work upon it through the process of producing butter, 
while the butter fat begins to deteriorate at once from the time it 
leaves the udder of the cow until it is placed on the market. That is 
evidenced most strongly by every butter man who takes an exhibit to 
the fair. He insists upon judgment within twenty-four hours after he 
places his butter on the table. If he does not get judgment on his 
butter or get his ribbon within twenty-four hours, he insists that the 
butter was not judged properly. Therefore the deterioration takes 
place at once. 

Q. You assert that there is butter produced and churned in with 
this butter fat which is artificially obtained? — A. No, sir; they use 
cream. The cream is bought and used as cream. 

Q. And churned in the butter? — A. Yes, sir; but with the entire 
fat, so that the butter and the cream and the butter fat which has 
been cooked has lost its aroma, which is caused by the action of the 
bacteria that are in the milk; the breaking down of the milk, start- 
ing with the cream, is necessary to extract the butter. The oleomar- 
garine maker takes the cream and churns it with his butter fat, which 
he has cooked, and gives it that aroma from the cream, 

Q. He does not buy the butters and mix them?— A. Not a pound. 
But the fats, both the neutral and the oleo, have been cooked. That 
is the great objection made by the butter people to oleomargarine, is 
its keeping qualities. Its purity has been extolled by everybody who 
has tasted it. 

Q. Of course, the pure article is not under discussion. It is the 
question of adulteration that we are getting at — of mixtures which are 
palmed off upon an unsuspecting and ignorant public. — A. I am here 
to assert that oleomargarine is not adulterated. 

Q. And that there is no process by which butter, either good, bad, 
or indifferent, is produced and brought in and worked over and mixed 
with the oleomargarine, but that the mixture which is used, of the 

butter fats, is by way of cream, churned A. Absolutely rich 

cream. 

Q. (Continuing.) And the mixture is brought about in that way? — 
A. Yes ; but as the committee is here to benefit the health of the 
public and to prevent fraud in the sale of these products, I am 
anxious that they shall get the facts without any bias or prejudice in 
favor of an article so pure as oleomargarine. The Scientific American 
makes the statement — I will read a few lines of it — in which they say : 

In everyday life butter is very essential. Its free use by sufferers from wasting 
diseases is to be encouraged to the utmost, in so far as it can be borne. All this 
seems very simple, but, unfortunately, an excess of butter diet, even in a healthy 
organism, is likely to give rise to butyric dyspepsia, and butyric fermentation is 
set up largely through the presence of a ferment, a residuum left by the butter- 
milk. 

Considering the foregoing, it seems strange that oleomargarine has not been 
thought of as a palatable and suitable article of diet for those suffering from 
wasting diseases. It is free from all objections, despite the idle and malicious tales 
spread by parties interested in securing higher prices for inferior and unwholesome 
products. Were the truth fully realized by all classes, bad butter would iind no 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 223 

market; but, unfortunately, the majority of the people have no comprehensive idea 
as to what oleomargarine practically is. 

The resulting product, as a matter of fact, is a better and purer butter than nine- 
tenths of the dairy product that is marketed, and one that is far more easily pre- 
served. There are a large number also who imagine that oleomargarine is made 
from any old scraps of grease, regardless of age or cleanliness, which is quite the 
reverse of the fact: indeed, a good " oleo " can only be had by employing the very 
best and freshest of fat. This " artificial butter "is as purelj^ wholesome (and 
perhaps even better as food) as the best dairy or creamery product. 

The official chemists for the Austrian Government say that the only 
germs ever present in oleomargarine are those which are common to 
air and w^ater. Thej^ also found tliat the product is especially liable 
to contamination, inasmuch as the best process of manufacture fails 
to eliminate all the lactic-acid ferment. 

Senator Harris. Now, Mr. Sterne, tell about the use of coloring 
matter. 

Answer. Annatto, the coloring matter that is advertised on the back 
of that butter paper [indicating], is the principal butter color used by 
a number of color makers. That paper is the Chicago Dairy Produce 
Journal. You will find the advertisement on the front page, Senator. 
It is the same coloring matter that is used in butter. 

Q. What is the composition of this coloring matter? — A. Annatto, 
a base of either linseed or olive or cotton-seed oil. 

Q. None of the aniline dyes? — A. Not an atom in butterine. 

Q. We have a great deal of evidence here to the effect that aniline 
dj^es were more or less crowding annatto and dyes of that character. — A. 
Not an atom in the oleomargarine business. 

Q. Do 3^ou speak for the whole oleomargarine business? — A. I know 
pretty much all about it. There is nobody using any such color. No 
aniline dyes are used. I defy proof. 

Senator Harris. We have had some very strong evidence to that 
effect from exj)ert chemists. I am not speaking of it as applying 
esijecially to oleomargarine or especially to butter, but I mean as a 
coloring matter. 

Answer. Oh, that may be so. I am only speaking now about butter 
facts. I don't know whether the butter or oleomargarine men are 
using any annotto. Have you ever found any, Professor? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I think you are wrong. I think they do not 
use any annotto at all. Nor do butter makers at the present time use 
any annotto. It has gone practically out of use. This same firm that 
you quote used to make annotto exclusively, and they told me not long 
ago, one of the firm did, that they had almost absolutely stopped 
making it, and that there is no demand for it either from butter 
makers or from oleomargarine makers. 

Senator Harris. The evidence has been almost overwhelming, even 
from the butter men themselves, practically admitting the superiority 
of the color obtained by the aniline colors. 

The Witness. I don't believe it. 

Senator Harris. What is the object, Mr. Sterne, of coloring oleo- 
margarine? 

Answer. For the same reason that the butter people do, to make 
it — this paper describes in an article that the man who makes his 
butter best and who makes it most attractive to the eye sells it at the 
highest price. 

Q. Some colors are more attractive than other colors. Is not the 
use of this particular color attractive because it resembles the highest 
grade of butter? — A. Not particularly so. It does not resemble the 
highest grade of butter. 



224 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. What is called " June butter" is a very yellow butter. That is 
supposed to be a more fragrant and desirable butter, is it not? — A. If 
that is so, Senator, why do all the butter makers use butter coloring 
the year round? 

Senator Harris. I do not think there is any question as to the 
motive being the same in each case, so far as my own opinion is 
concerned. 

The Witness. I think so. 

Senator Harris. And I am merely asking you for the motive in 
your mind. 

Answer. That is the idea, to make it attractive to the eye. 

Q, And to make it resemble a superior class of butter? — A. Because 
everybody has become familiar — and the popular butter is a bright 
yellow color — and the more perfectly yellow the butter and butterine 
makers make theirs the quicker it is sold. 

Q. The maker of inferior or white butter colors what is butter in 
order to make it resemble a superior grade of butter? — A= You manu- 
facture something which is chemically the same, perhaps, as butter, but 
which is not butter, but j^ou color it in order that it shall resemble 
butter. President Chandler, president of the board of health in New 
York, declares that it is butter. 

Q. I only want to know if my deduction as to the use of colors is 
fair and correct. — A. That is right. 

Q. Of course, if aniline dyes are used by either the butter or oleo- 
margarine maker, that you would regard as injurious? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And should be prohibited? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. A natural vegetable color like annotto, so far as its effect upon 
the health is concerned, would be one which would be harmless? — A. 
Harmless. 

Q. What would you think of a law which would absolutely prohibit 
the use of coloring matter in either butter or oleomargarine? Would 
it be beneficial? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Would it be injurious? — A. It would not be injurious to health, 
but it would hurt the trade both of the butter and of the oleomarga- 
rine people. 

Q. Why would it hurt the trade if both parties to this controversy 
were prohibited from coloring their product? — A. I can see how it 
would hurt the sale of both products. 

Q. It would only hurt the sale of something which was inferior to 
that which is accepted as the standard in color. — A. Have you any 
idea how much of the butter is standard in color? 

Q. It may not be but an infinitesimal part, so far as that is con- 
cerned; but that is a fact, nevertheless, is it not? — A. Yes; that is ,a 
fact. Have you seen the oil from which oleomargarine is made in its 
natural color? 

Q. No, I have not. I want to get at this question of CQloring, Mr. 
Sterne, if you will pardon me for a moment. Why would it affect — 
if everything was put upon the absolute basis of unsophisticated 
appearance, where would be the harm? — A. The harm would come 
greater to the butter people than to the oleomargarine. 

Q. You are not looking out particularly for the butter people? — A. 
Not particularly; still I am honest in what I say. 

Senator Harris. Yes, I think so, Mr. Sterne. I give j^ou credit for 
that; but as there is a great claim of deception made by various par- 
ties and all that, don't you think that perhaps the best way would be 
for both parties to lay aside all appearance of deception? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 225 

Answer. No, not so long as there is no harm in the coloring of the 
products. I don't think there would be any good. I think that would 
be a waste of time. If jDeoi^le want yellow butter, let them have it. 

Q. Certainl3% if they want yellow butter; but suppose they want 
yellow butter and ask for oleomargarine? — A. Suppose they ask for 
yellow oleomargarine? 

Q. Do they ^.ver ask for that? — A. No, they do not. They ask for 
oleomargarine. 

Q. For oleomargarine? — A. Yes. 

Q. People are becoming educated up to the point of the article in 
the Scientific American where they recognize the merits? — A. In the 
district where I live there are thirty-five grocery stores, every one of 
which has a sign upon a box in the store, a sign in front of the store, 
and glass or brass signs hung about, "Try Moxley's butterine; " 
"Braun & Fitts's Holstein," etc. 

Q. Braun & Fitts's Holstein?— A. Yes, sir. That is Braun & Fitts's 
popular butterine — Holstein. 

Q. What could you imagine the purpose of using the name of a 
breed of dairy cattle as the name of this kind of an article except 
deception? — A. If he says "Holstein oleomargarine" 

Q. Does he say that? — A. Why, surely. "Try Braun & Fitts's Hol- 
stein oleomargarine," There are boxes with a great big sign — oleo- 
margarine signs — on top of them. 

Q. Does that mean that the essential oil is taken from Holstein 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. (Continuing) that it is taken from Holstein cattle? — A. That is 
the idea. Just as a man says "Our fine Jersey butter," made from 
common cattle. 

Q. Jersey butter is the product of cream produced from Jersey 
cows? — A. Yes. 

Q. This would be tallow produced by Holstein cows? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Don't you know, as a practical cattle man, that Holstein cattle 
secrete and make less tallow than any other breed of cattle known? — 
A. I don't know anything about that; no. I know that the Holstein 
cow gives more milk than almost any other cow. 

Q. And for that reason she has less tallow. — A. But we do not take 
tallow from cows. W§ take the tallow from the bullock. 

Q. The same characteristics, of course, of the cow extend to the 
steer? — A. Certainly. 

Q. And the steer is the heaviest feeding animal that we find in our 
cattle yards. It takes more feed to produce tallow. The point is 
that the use of that name would not indicate that the tallow came 
from Holstein cattle, because they are comparatively scarce in pro- 
portion to other cattle? — A. I don't see what difference it makes as 
long as the man calls it oleomargarine and stamps that word into the 
butter and onto the wrapper. 

Q. As long as he undertakes no deception no criticism can be 
made. — A. There is practically no deception in the sale of oleomar- 
garine among retail grocers, 

Q. You think that retail grocers do fairly comply with the law 
which requires them to brand their packages on the paper and inform 
the public as to what they are purchasing? — A. Generally, yes. There 
are some people dishonest in every line of business, but, as a rule, 
now, as compared with ten or twelve years ago, when there were a 
whole lot of ugl}^ laws and ugly enforcement of law and a whole lot 
of talk about snakes and grease and dirty stuff, then people could 
F p 15 



226 ADULTEKATION OB^ FOOD PRODUCTS. 

not sell oleomargarine. To-day there are hundreds of people send to 
the factories and buy 10-pound packages of oleomargarine in the 
original package and send it home, but do not go to the grocery 
because of the fear that it will be found out that they are using 
oleomargarine. 

Q. There was a witness testified that people came in and whispered 
that they wanted oleomargarine. — A. I expect that is right. 

Q. Do you think there is still a prejudice existing? — A. Because of 
common talk. I have been out of the oleomargarine business for 
probably ten or eleven or twelve years — that is, out of the export 
manufacturing business — but I have had oleomargarine on my table 
every day since then. But it would not make any difference whose I 
bought, provided they made it of an acceptable grade and quality. 

Q. As a commission merchant, you also handle butter, do you not? — 
A. No, sir. 

Q. You do not handle anj^ butter? — A. No, sir. Oh, I have an order 
for 50 boxes of butter once in a while. I simply turn it over to some 
one to fill. 

Q. Have you any knowledge of the manufacture of this butter 
which is gathered up from all of the country stores, etc., and which 
is treated by what is known as the new process? — A. Yes, sir; it is 
known and recognized in the butter trade as process butter. 

Q. What is your understanding of what process butter is; how it is 
made? — A. It is picked up on the street at the lowest price. It is 
green and moldy, and blue and white, and all sorts of colors. It is 
taken and put into a kettle and melted down and settled and put 
through a process of soda, rewashed, and handed out onto the table 
through ice water, put through a worker, recolored, resalted, and sold. 
I have examined it on Water street, where they put it up as imitation 
creamery. 

Q. Branded as imitation creamer}^? — A. No, sir; not branded as 
imitation creamery, but it is known as imitation creamery in the 
cellar. 

Q. Is there any specific mark by which it could l3e distinguished in 
any way? — A. No, sir; there are no specific marks on the butter in the 
cellars unless the man is trying to push his brand of butter. 

Q. Do you know anything about antiseptics as a means of preserv- 
ing butter? — A. I have never seen any used. I know antiseptics are 
bought and used by people on the street here. This paper quotes: 
"Imitation creamery is quiet. Sales are made at from 12| to 13 
cents." It shows there is a demand for it all the time by these people. 
This paper is a butter paper, published by Charles Y. Knight. This 
is dated May 6. 

I do want to get at that washed butter. Senator. Nothing has ever 
been done about it since the oleomargarine law was passed to protect 
the public against this shoe-box butter. 

Q. What you call "shoe-box butter," is it that mixed butter which 
is subjected to this new jirocess? — A. Yes, sir. It is a shame that 
the public are allowed to buy and eat that product. It actually has 
enough alkali in it to take the throat out of a man. 

Q. By the use of soda? You spoke of that. — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is to say, for the purpose of correcting the odor and rancid 
taste? — A. The butter is absolutely unfit for anything except to settle 
salt. I have bought thousands of tons of it on the street and have 
shipped it for the settling of salt, for the elimination of certain prod- 
ucts in salt. Then, there is this grease butter. That butter has 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 227 

rarely been below 9 cents a i^ound, for the reason that the washers 
take it and reproduce it and put it on the street as a butter for food. 

Q. You think to any appreciable extent'? — A. To the extent of the 
entire street supi^ly — thousands of tons a year. 

Q. When you sa}^ the entire street supply A. Of that kind of 

butter. It all goes into the hands of those j)eople. 

Q. How could that be prevented? — A. I really can not make any 
suggestions in that direction. 

Q. What I am getting at is, would a law which would compel butter 
prepaied in that way to be branded have any effect? — A. Yes, sir; that 
would probably affect it. 

Q. Just to make it sail under its own colors. — A. Something should 
be done about that, and while I can not suggest the names of the jjeo- 
ple that are doing this, I could suggest the names of people who could 
probably tell who were doing it. 

Senator Harris. I don't know that we would care for any names. 
We neither want to advertise anyone unfairly or injuriously in any 
way who is doing what is a legitimate business, of course. 

Q. You think there are deleterious chemicals used in its prepara- 
tion? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What are they? — A. Sal soda, salicylic acid. 

Q. Is that the result of analysis or of observation? — A. That is 
observation with me. I have not cared to make any expense to make 
a test of the product. I have thought of sending samples down to 
Washington to have them analyzed by Professor Wilej^'s department. 
In this connection I would like to i-ead one little item in this paper — 
an offer from a Chicago dairy produce paj^er to give away 5 bicycles, 
the award to be made June 1. 

(The witness here read the item referred to.) 

Senator Harris. That is wholly irrelevant. The stenographer will 
strike that out. It has no relation to adulteration. 

The Witness. I onlj'^ want to present to the committee what Mr. 
Knight's idea is in the fight. 

Senator Harris. Mr. Sterne, this committee has no sympathy nor 
feelings, one side or the other, in any fight at all. We are endeavor- 
ing to arrive at fairness and justice and right; and while there has 
undoubtedly been some biased testimony given, we propose to give 
everybody an equal show as to that, but without becoming in •dny 
way parties to it, nor, if possible, admitting any matter that is not 
relevant to the purpose. 

The Witness. I only want to say that I believe, from my long 
exj)erience in business, that oleomargarine has never had an adul- 
terant, and has never had a fair chance to be known by the people, 
because of the objectionable articles in the press and in the dairy 
press. There was quite a fight on the mining prize. Everybody that 
subscribed a dollar got a share in the mine 

Senator Harris. So far as that struggle is concerned, j^ou know 
that that has been the history of almost every valuable product 
either of the brain or of the hand of man. It has had to struggle up 
against the opposition of those interested in the existing condition of 
things. 

The Witness. That is true, and oleomargarine got there because 
of its goodness and its quality. 

Senator Harris. Those things necessarily work themselves out. 
We are very much obliged to you, Mr. Sterne, and appreciate what 
you have done. 



228 ADULTERATIOISr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Witness. I wanted you to see original samples of the oleo oil 
and to show you how nearly a natural butter color it is. 

(The witness here produced the sample referred to.) 

Senator Harris. That is absolutely uncolored? 

Answer. It never has had an ounce of coloring in it. 

(The witness here produced certain other samples.) 

There [indicating] is neutral lard. The medical fraternity say that 
that is absolutely pure. This is neutral lard. 

Q. The product of the hog, as well as the product of the ox, is 
used? — A, Yes, sir; always. That gives the grain. This has a gran- 
ular form in the process. That [indicating] is absolutely as pure as 
that [indicating]. There [indicating] is some of the finished product. 
It has the Government photograph on every j)ackage. 

Q. This is a pure article, but it is in no way a component of natural 
butter? — A. Not at all; but a farm product, nevertheless. 

Senator Harris. Yes ; of course, a farm product. [Addressing Chief 
Chemist Wiley:] Is that odorless and tasteless? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Odorless and tasteless. It is neutral lard. 
The difference in the grades of oleomargarine is this — the quantity of 
milk and cream churned with each. The proportions of fats are nearly 
identically the same. 

Q. The higher grade has the most cream churned in with it? — A. 
Yes; giving it naturally the greatest i^roduction of butter. The cream 
that is used is guaranteed on the contracts made by the oleomargarine 
people to churn 20 pounds of butter to 100 pounds of cream. 

Q. Then the more nearly you can make it resemble butter, with the 
added keeping qualities, the better it is? — A. Yes. 

Q. That is really the point in the whole thing? — A. Its purity and 
its keeping qualities are what make it valuable. 

Q. The purity of production, its resemblance to a higher class of 
butter, and its keeping qualities? — A. Yes. 

Q. That is the situation? — A. That is the idea exactly. There 
[producing a sample] is the cream which is used. That cream is guar- 
anteed to produce 20 pounds of butter to the hundred pounds of cream. 
Our cream runs all the way from 15 to 24. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. How much cream of that would you use to 
a hundred pounds of these mixed fats? 

Answer. That would depend on how high a grade of oil 

Senator Harris. For the best grade. 

Answer. For the fancy creamery grade you would use so as to get 
about 20 to 25 pails of butter — you get all the benefit of the gases of 
the butter just at the breaking point. Then it goes into the fats, 
and it assimilates more readily, and makes a more perfect union with 
the butter fats. There is no adulteration in oleomargarine. 

Senator Harris. Would you not consider the use of lard — that is, 
so far as confining oleomargarine to the legitimate products of the 
ox — would you not consider the use of lard as a substitute? 

Answer. No; ever since the beginning of the manufacture of oleo- 
margarine it has been known as a compound of beef fat and lard, with 
sometimes cotton-seed oil, and the compound has always been known — 
you have known it how long? 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Twenty-five years. 

The Witness. It has always been known as a compound of those 
fats. It used to be adulterated with butter, but the butter was so poor 
that they had to take cream to get it. We could buy so little pure 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 229 

butter to put into it that we had to come back to the cream to get the 
original. When I want 200 boxes of butter, I have to examine 500 to 
get 200 on South Water street. 

Senator Harris. It is always admitted that it is difficult to get good 
butter. 

STATEMENT OF MARC DELAFONTAINE. 

Marc Delafontaine, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by Senator Harris: 

Q. Please give your name and address. — A. My name is Marc Dela- 
fontaine. I live at 121 Honore street, Chicago. I am a chemist and 
a teacher of chemistry. 

Q. Have you devoted any attention to the adulteration of food 
products, Professor? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What class of food products'? — A. In a general way, almost every 
kind, because I am an analyst, and I have much to do with analyzing 
for people various articles of food in great variety. Besides that, I 
have paid great attention to all those questions for the past thirty 
years that I have lived in Chicago. 

Q. What do you know from your work as to the character of color- 
ing matter used in butter and imitations of butter? — A. Well, until 
comparatively^ lately annatto was extensively used, but during the 
past year or so I had to examine samples of butter and butterine the 
coloring matter of which was not annatto. It was one of the aniline 
or coal-tar colors or a derivative from them. Whether it is poisonous 
or not I am not prepared to say. I know that some of them are very 
poisonous. It is a matter that should be investigated. 

Q. You think the use of the coal-tar coloring matters, the products 
of coal tar, is taking the place of vegetable coloring matters? — A. It 
seems to be, yes, sir, so far as my experience goes. 

Q. That would be true not only of butterine and butter, but of 
many other things? — A. Yes; confectionery, etc. 

Q. The coloring matter in pickles and jellies and preserves? — A. 
Some of them. 

Q. You think those products are working in the same direction? — 
A. The red and the yellow. 

Q. Have you ever come across copperas as a coloring matter in 
pickles? — A. No. 

Q. Or alum? — A. No, sir. 

Q. What has been the extent of your observation with regard to the 
adulteration of spices? — A. T have not done anj4hing in that line for 
years, only at the time when I investigated articles of that kind I 
found that almost all of them were largely adulterated with inferior 
substances that had no strength. They were simply diluters and 
added weight. Diluters is the word. 

Q. Not necessarily with anything injurious to health? — A. No. 

Q. Do you regard the use of alum in pickles and other substances 
as injurious to health. Professor? — A. In pickles? I have no experi- 
ence at all in that line. I do not know. I do not see what good it 
would do to put it there. 

Q. As a mordant; I believe it is used to fix the colors. — A. Strong 
vinegar would be better ; but I do not know anything about that. I 
can not testify as to that. 



230 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. Have you ever had any connection with baking- 
powder production? 

Answer. Oh, yes; I have done much work in that line. 

Senator Harris. I mean have you been intei-ested in the production 
of baking powder? 

Answer. No; not in the manufacture; no, sir. 

Senator Harris. Have you been employed by baking-powder com- 
panies? 

Answer. Not as a regular chemist. I have analyzed often. 

Senator Harris. You have been employed to make analyses? 

Answer. Oh, yes; as an analyist for quite a number of different 
companies. 

Senator Harris. Of course your analj^sis goes to the extent of deter- 
mining what is in the powder as sold to the public? 

Answer. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Have you ever analyzed the bread which results 
from the use of any powder? 

Answer. I have experimented in that way; yes, sir; with bread and 
cakes. 

Senator Harris, Do you think that in the case of powders in which 
alum is an ingredient you have found a residuum or a nonneutralized 
portion in the bread which was injurious to health? 

Answer, I never detected any; no; unless you call injurious to 
health a certain sodium sulphate which is the product of the decompo- 
sition of the alum products, or unless you call injurious a certain 
amount of cream of tartar which is the result of decomposition of the 
cream of tartar products. But there is so little that it does not amount 
to anything in regard to health. To make more precise to you my 
answer, alum is sometimes prescribed as an astringent. The dose is 
from 10 to 20 grains — the medicinal dose. Now, take a baki_ g pow- 
der containing, say, 40 per cent of crystallized alum ; and if 1 per cent 
of that quantity should escape decomposition, it would be a very 
small fraction — less than 1 grain — in a loaf of bread; nothing at all 
that could be called injurious. We take in much more than that 
which is injurious in the course of a day. The smoking of a cigar 
sometimes is worse than the amount of alum or cream of tartar which 
may escape decomposition in baking. The great outcry against this 
or that kind of powder is more for advertising j)urposes than really 
in the interest of public health. The way the two classes are manu- 
factured now, I think that as regards healthfulness or lack of it, tlie 
honors are even among them. The cream of tartar powders leave 
quite a residuum of Rochelle salts. That is a laxative. Well, it may 
not agree with people to take a laxative. The worst that can be said 
of the alum powder — and that applies also to the other kind — is that 
a small amount of alum promotes decomposition. Now, alum is an 
astringent, and many people need an astringent — something which 
works against catarrh. Catarrh is a very common affection here in 
this country. 

Senator Harris. Do you think that all that would be necessary 
would be to require the formula to be printed on the label, so that 
people would know just what they were using? 

Answer. I do not know about that. It would be all right if people 
were well educated and understood the chemical changes which take 
place in the baking powder which is used in the kitchen; but so long 
as they are not educated up to that they get frightened by that word 
"alum," because they fanc}^ and they are made to believe that the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 231 

alum remains in the powder during the cooking. So that it might be 
done in some otlier way. 

Senator Harris. Don't you think that if there is a fear or supersti- 
tion or prejudice that it should be respected? 

Answer. Oh, no 

Senator Harris. I may have an unnatural and unnecessary fear of 
a certain tiling, but that is no reason why that thing should be palmed 
off upon me without my knowing it, is it? 

Answer. Oh, I understand that. I was going to add this: That the 
label might give the formula, or, in a general way, the components, 
and then the maker might make his statement that after all, after the 
thing has been used, there is nothing injurious in the use of it. 

Senator Harris. Of course, he could make any explanatory state- 
ment that he saw fit. 

Answer. Yes. 

Senator HARRIS, But you certainly would consider it a fair propo- 
sition that everything as it is sold, as it passes from the seller's 
hands — this reaction has not taken place, and therefore the composi- 
tion of it, exactly as it stands, could be thoroughly required? 

Answer. Yes; that really should apply to all kinds of mixtures. 

Senator Harris. To everything? 

Answer. Whether it be mustard, or anything of that kind. The 
English law, I think, is tlie best in that respect, requiring the label 
to state what there is in the bottle or bag or package. 

Senator Harris. The percentage of everything? 

Answer. As near as possible. Then, it is for the manufacturers to 
educate the people, in the same way, as regards butterine. 

Q. You have made analyses of oleomargarine, I supi^ose. Pro- 
fessor? — A. Yes, sir; many times. 

Q. You have found the character of the coloring matter used in 
that? — A. Yes. I said before that formerly it was annotto and 
lately 

Q. And the same thing is true of butter? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you ever found any kind of antiseptic preservatives in 
either? — A. No. Well, I never looked especially for them. In fact, 
the nature of the fat does not invite the use of an antiseptic. I do 
not know of any antiseptic which would prevent the fat from turning 
rancid. They might have put a little salicylic acid in it, but I do not 
see the good of it, anyway. 

Q. Oleomargarine you regard in its chemical constituents substan- 
tially similar to butter? — A. Substantially; not identical. 

Q. No; but substantially? — A. Yes. 

Q. And equallj^ wholesome? — A. Oh, yes; I think so. The manu- 
facturers of oleomargarine are bound to use the very best materials 
for the manufacture of their article or else it will not sell. They must 
use the finest grades of fats. 

Q. That is, anj^thing inferior would be offensive or repulsive. Is 
that the idea? — A. I think it would ; yes. I think it would be either 
rancid or bad to the taste, or something like that. Of course, I do not 
think the best butterine is equal to the best butter, but there are 
grades of butter which are inferior to a very good butterine — to the 
average butterine. The manufacturer of butterine has to be most 
careful about what he uses to make his product. 

Q. The butterine also has an advantage in its keeping qualities? — 
A. Yes; it has. 



232 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris (addressing Chief Chemist Wiley). Professor Wiley, 
if you would like to ask any questions, you may do so. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. Does cream of tartar occur in any natural 
food; what we commonly know as cream of tartar? 

Answer. In grapes. IS ot in any articles of food that I remember of, 
except grapes. 

Q. Do you regard grapes as a wholesome food? — A. Yes, when taken 
moderately, 

Q. And wine made from grapes? — A. Yes; provided there is not too 
much sourness or too much cream of tartar in it. 

Q. I believe you are a Frenchman? — A. Yes; but I drink any kind 
of wine, as well as French wine. 

Q. Do you know that alum occurs in any natural food? — A. No. 

Q. It does not? — A. No. 

Q. Then there is a difference between cream of tartar and alum in 
that respect, in that one does occur in a natural food and the other 
does not? — A. I am not sure that there is cream of tartar, except in 
grapes. Yes; there is a little of it which separates from the wine 
when the juice of the grape is turned into wine. Cream of tartar 
has some poisonous properties. It is a potassium salt, and potas- 
sium salts are poisonous. Tartaric acid, which is a component part 
of cream of tartar, is a poison, but, as I said, it is a question of dose. 
It takes a verj^ large dose of cream of tartar or tartaric acid to kill a 
person. 

Q. In that sense Rny food may be a poison. You can eat enough 
honey or green apples to kill you. — A. There are some things that you 
can never take enough of to be killed by them. The capacity of the 
stomach is too small. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. I believe that is all. 

The Witness. May I add a few words about antiseptics? 

Senator Harris. Certainly. 

The Witness. From what I have read in the papers lately it is a 
matter of suggestion. The outcry against the use of antiseptics is 
not well founded. We have been using antiseptics for centuries — 
that is, salt and smoke. Salt is an antiseptic. The creosote in the 
smoke is also an antiseptic. There are a few others. Vinegar for 
pickles is also an antiseptic, and there are a few others. Now, as the 
production of natural articles of food increases and as the consumer 
lives farther from the maker or the farmer it becomes necessary to 
use articles that will keep the food products fit to eat and there- 
fore to enlarge the list of antiseptics. But the very best antiseptic 
affects digestion, from the very nature of its being an antiseptic. It 
will act either on the food itself or on the ferments in the stomach, 
the gastric juices or the intestinal juices, or on both. A further ques- 
tion is, Which antiseptic is the least liable to be injurious to the 
health of the consumer? I do not believe that there is now and there 
will perhaps never be an antiseptic which will not be more or less 
injurious to the digestive powers of the consumer. We know hardly 
anything about formaline or formaldehyde, although some very good 
experiments have been made lately in Ann Arbor b}^ Professor Novi 
and Mr. Bliss. 

There is another article about which little is known; that is, 
whether it is hurtful or to what extent it is so or not. It is called 
preservaline — in other words, sodium fluoride. Salicylic acid in some 
countries is tabooed. Here it seems to be very largely used without 
any apparent harm. That may be due to the fact that very little of 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 233 

it anyway can be used. It is so little soluble. Boracic acid seems to 
be harmless, but at the same time it is a comparatively poor anti- 
septic. That, I think, exhausts the list. And the suggestion that I 
heard offered to this committee is that experiments be carried on by 
the United States chemists with a view to ascertaining the degree of 
toxicity or poisonous properties of the new antiseptics and within 
what limits the}^ may be allowed, or whether they, or any one of them, 
should be absolutely excluded by laws and statutes. 

Senator Harris. That has been one of the questions discussed here 
several times, whether within certain limits certain things could be 
permitted. 

The Witness. Yes; which ones and up to what doses. That is a 
question for further investigation. 

Q. Yes. — A. I don't think that we are sufficiently posted about that 
now, in the present condition of science. 



STATEMENT OF PROF. E. N. EATON. 

Prof. E. N. Eaton, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination bj^ Senator Harris: 

Q. Please give your name, residence, and profession. — A. E. N. 
Eaton is my name. I am a chemist by profession, at present with 
Professor Young at room 1760, Monadnock Building. 

Q. Are you connected with any public institution at the present 
time? — A. I am not now. I have been. For three years I was assist- 
ant chemist at the Iowa Agricultural College. 

Q. You are engaged here as an analytical chemist? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have j-ou made extensive analyses. Professor, of food prod- 
ucts? — A. I have. More especially in Minnesota, where I was chemist 
to the State dairy-food commission for four years. 

Q. What is the food product that you think is generally the most 
adulterated, so far as your observation goes? — A. Well, I believe that 
vinegar is adulterated more extensively than any other article of food. 

Q. That is adulterated, I suppose, in both wRys — that is, it is adulter- 
ated with a weakening fluid, and it is also adulterated by the use of 
acids which would be injurious to the health of the public? — A. It is 
diluted invariably, and that is all right, 1 believe, when carried to a 
certain extent, because vinegar as ordinarily made is far too strong 
for consumption; but to my knowledge there have been no foreign 
acids added to vinegar in this country. In England they did to a 
certain extent add sulphuric acid as a preservative, but not in this 
country. Acetic acid is one word 

Q. That could be covered by a statement to the consumer as to the 
extent of the dilution? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You say there are no acids used in this countrj^n the manufac- 
ture of vinegar that are injurious? — A. I believe not. There is no 
acid used except acetic acid. 

Q. Sulphuric acid is used? — A. Sulphuric acid is not used. The 
principal adulterant of vinegar is the substitution of low-wine vine- 
gar and beer vinegars and malt vinegars, colored for cider vinegar. 

Q. That is a substitution of one kind for another? — A. Of one kind 
for another; yes, sir. 

Q. Are those classes of vinegar injurious to health? — A. I believe 
not. 



234 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q, They would differ from the other only in flavor and strength? — 
A. That is all. 

Q. And not in wholesome qualities? — A. Yes, sir. 

Chief Chemist Wiley. What would you define to be vinegar? What 
would be your definition of vinegar? 

Answer. Well, I should want to limit that. Can you name some 
special kind of vinegar? If you ask me to define any particular kind 
or brand of vinegar, I could do so. 

Q. Would you consider that any one brand of vinegar should be 
permitted alone to bear the name of vinegar? — A. I would not. 

Q. I mean by that that vinegar should mean one particular sub- 
stance, and that every other substance not that, but resembling vine- 
gar, should bear some specific name? — A. Yes, sir; and I doubt if 
there is any substance which we call vinegar. 

Q. Then, would you say cider vinegar? — A. I would say cider vine- 
gar, old wine vinegar 

Q. Malt vinegar? — A. Yes, sir. The word vinegar in itself means 
nothing. 

Chief Chemist Wiley (addressing Senator Harris). In this country, 
Senator, the term vinegar is usually used to imply cider vinegar. In 
England it never is. The term vinegar there means malt vinegar. In 
point of fact a great part of the vinegar that is made in this country 
is made by the oxidation of high wines, simply taking the products of 
the distillery, the low wines or the high wines, as they are called, 
whichever thej^ may be, and running them over l3eet shavings, and in 
that way oxidizing them rapidly and transforming them into acetic 
acid. Then they are colored and flavored to look as much as possible 
like cider vinegar. 

The Witness. I just want to add to the doctor's statement that 
vinegar so i3repared contains a verj^ large percentage of acetic acid, 
as high as 10 or 12 per cent, and it must then be diluted before it is 
consumed, because that is entirely too high. About 4 or 5 per cent 
strength is probably as high a degree of strength as should be had in 
vinegar, although 5 per cent would not be too high. I have examined 
vinegars, hundreds of them, as low as 2 and 3 and 4 per cent. The 
State of Wisconsin requires 4 per cent, as that State requires 4 per 
cent of acetic acid in vinegar. 

Q. Do they fix a maximum? — A. No; Minnesota requires 4.5 per 
cent. 

Senator Harris. You think the interests of the country would be 
subserved by labeling each kind of vinegar as the product of a certain 
other article, and with a standard established by law of strength, a 
percentage of strength? 

Answer. I do; although I would establish a minimum standard. 

Q. I say, with a minimum percentage. That is what I mean. — A, 
With a label law or a brand law for any percentage of acid higher than 
that standard. 

Q. Do you think that could also be applied successfully and benefi- 
cially to various spices that are ground and sophisticated with harm- 
less substances? — A. I do. 

Q. Ground spices — I suppose you have examined and find them more 
or less adulterated? — A. I have examined quite a number of them, but 
I have not made a special study of spices, such as I have of baking 
powder and honey and lard and the dairy products. 

Q. Do you find lard adulterated largely? — A. It was adulterated very 
largely twovears airo. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 235 

Q. It is not so much adulterated now? — A. I could not say, because 
I have made no analysis of lard for two years. 

Q. What do you find it adulterated with? — A. At that time it was 
adulterated with beef fat and cotton-seed oil. 

Q. Inferior beef fats, do you mean? — A. No, sir; I would not say 
that they were inferior beef fats. They were beef stearin. Probably 
used as a by-product in the oleomargarine. 

Q. A resultant from the production of oleomargarine? — A. Yes, sir; 
a by-product. 

Q. And cotton-seed oil. — A. And cotton-seed oil. 

Q. Did you regard that as in any way injurious to health? — A. I 
did not. 

Q. Simply a financial fraud? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you think the use of antiseptic preservatives is general now 
in supplies liable to decomposition? — A. It is in certain products, very 
general. 

Q. Do 3^ou regard it as dangerous in the quantities in which they 
are used? — A. I should not care to testify on that point, because I 
have not made a personal examination. 

Q. Outside of your own reading? — A. Just my reading, that is all. 

Q. Would you regard it generallj^ as unsafe when used in food 
products, even in small quantities, substances which in moderate doses 
produce injurious efi'ects upon the system? — A. I would consider it 
safe to use it in quantities such that it did not have a physiological 
effect in the amount of the food used. 

Q. Would you consider that the continued nse should be taken into 
consideration in estimating its effect? — A. Not if the i^roduct is not 
what is called a cumulative poison. If it was a cumulative poison, 
such as lead or mercury, that would be a factor, but in the case of, 
for example, coloring matter or preservatives, I do not think that 
should be considered. 

Q. You think the stomach would not gradually be injured — the 
digestive powers of the stomach gradually injured — by the use, even 
if it was not cumulative? — A. I do not think it would. If one single 
dose would not produce any effect, I think perhaps continued use 
would not. 

Q. Nothing added to nothing would still produce nothing. That is 
your position? — A. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. I believe that is all that occurs to me. If you 
have any suggestions that you can make to the committee in this con- 
nection, we would be glad to have them. 

A Person present. This gentleman has made a sort of specialty 
of honey analysis, and perhaps he can add to something that has 
already ])een stated. 

Senator Harris. In the analyses of honey which you have made. 
Professor, do you find anything used as an adulterant, substantially 
other than glucose, such as has been testified to before? 

Answer. I have found cane sugar used as an adulterant in honey in 
two ways — as added to the strained or extracted honey and as fed to 
the bees. With that exception, I have found no other adulterant in 
honey. 

Q. Of course you would not regard that as an injurious adultei-a- 
tion? — A. It is not an injurious adulterant. I have suspected tlie 
adulteration with invert sugar, as Professor Wilej^ explained, a sugar 
which is the sugar of honey as produced by the honey bee, but I have 



236 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

not been able to substantiate the fact that honey is adulterated with 
invert sugar. 

Q. Then, in the case of honey, simply an honest label is all that is 
required? — A. I believe so. 

Q. Which should state the composition? — A. Yes, sir. I will state 
one thing in addition to what Dr. Wiley said in regard to feeding 
bees cane sugar, and that is that this abnormal percentage of cane 
sugar is very marked in fresh honey, but after the honey is old the 
sugar seems to be inverted largely into invert sugar, so that it is 
very difficult, if not impossible, to detect it. There is one thing I 
might add in regard to baking powders, and that is that I believe it 
would be of public interest if all baking powders should be labeled 
with the minimum percentage of gas which the powder is calcu- 
lated to evolve, in the same manner that the laws on the same sub- 
ject in the East are carried out, because it is important for the con- 
sumer to know it; for, other things being equal, the value of a 
powder is dependent on the amount of gas evolved; some only 
evolve 5 or 6 j)er cent; others will evolve as high as 15 or 14 per cent. 

Q. Not only the ingredients but the results? — A. Yes. And I would 
not X3ut the formula on the label, because I believe the formula of the 
composition of a valuable article is the proj)erty of the inventor; but 
I would label the various classes of baking powder with the class to 
which they belong. For instance, there are four different kinds of 
baking poAvder, alum, alum j^hosphates, cream of tartar, and the pure 
phosphate powder; and those are all different in their action and in 
the residuum which they leave in the bread; and those different 
kinds of powders I believe should be labeled, but not the complete 
formula. 

Q. I see; you think that is the private property of the manufac- 
turer? — A. I hardly think it is quite fair to put a label, " This powder 
contains alum," at least until the fact tliat alum is positively inju- 
rious is established, because it conveys to tlie purchaser the meaning 
that it is harmful and very much inferior. 

Q. The purchaser would certainly then be in a position to exercise 
his own judgment as to the matter? — A. He would; but that stamp, 
with the statement on it, convinces his mind ahvays, whether fairly 
or not, that the powder is actually injurious or not; and if it is inju- 
rious I believe it should be prohibited, and if not it should be given 
just the same right as any other class of powder. 

Q. Cream of tartar baking powder would also have the same 
stamp? — A. Yes; that would be all right. 

Q. That would be just the same? — A. If the cream of tartar powder 
was compelled have same stamp on every package, and the phos- 
phate powders, it would be all right. 

Q. I don't think anyone has suggested the idea that any one thing- 
should be singled out, but that everything of any specific class should 
carry a label indicating its component parts. — A. But that is the case 
as we have it now in various States. The State of Minnesota and 
the State of Wisconsin and several other States require a statement 
on the label that " This ]30wder contains alum." 

Q. Your position would be that before such discrimination as that 
should be exercised most complete proof should be furnished that it 
was absolutely injurious? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. While in that case it should be absolutely prohibited? — A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. So that it would not be necessary to repeal it. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 237 

STATEMENT OF ORT COOKE. 

Ort Cooke, being duly sworn, testified as follows; 
Examination by Senator Harris : 

Q. Please give your name. — A. Ort Cooke. 

Q. What is j^our occupation? — A. I have done more farming than 
anything else. 

Q. Are you a farmer now? — A. I am not, 

Q. What are you engaged in now? — A. I am reducing theory to 
simple practice, if that is a fair 

Q. Sir? — A. I have been reducing theory to practice in the way of 
making improvements on mowing machines and on a substitute for 
maple-sugar sirup. 

Q. Are you engaged in the manufacture of such substances? — A. 
No, sir; I am simply working my ideas down to be put in practice. 

Q. You are endeavoring to prepare a substitute for maple sugar? — 
A. Yes, sir, 

Q. Do you care to make public the articles entering into this sub- 
stitute? — A, Do you mean the formula itself? 

Q, No; I don't care for the exact proportions, but you can name 
the ingredients. — A. I could come pretty near that. I can say that it 
is vegetable and wholesome. Here are some samples, if you care to 
look at them. 

Q. That does not answer the question. I do not ask you for the 
character of the components, but for the names of the components. — 
A, Do you mean the name of the flavor they make use of to get this 
flavor? 

Q, What do you propose to make the substitute of — glucose, prob- 
ably, I suppose, and some other thin g? — A. Two kinds of grocery sugar. 

Q. I merely suggest that . — A. Sugar. 

Q. Sugar and what? — A. Flavor. 

Q. Well, what kind of flavor? What is it? — A. It would be a niaj)le 
flavor. 

Q, What is it made of? — A. I don't think that I could answer you, 

Q. I have no right to insist at all upon anything of that kind. — A. 
If you will pardon me on that. That is my covenant. 

Q. That is what we want to know here. If you can not give us 
what you propose to make this of, I don't see wherein we are going to 
be helped any. Of course you think it is not injurious. — A. No. I 
will leave it to a chemist in regard to that. 

Q. Have you ever submitted it to analysis? — A. I have. 

Q. Are you willing to supply Professor Wiley with a sufficient 
quantity to analyze? — A. I truly am ; yes, sir. 

Q. You have not engaged in the manufacture of this? — A. Not yet. 

Q. There is none of it on the market? — A. No. I have simply shown 
it to some of the leading men and told them the facts of the case, as 
to what I was trying to substitute. I used to make sugar on the farm 
and know something about sugar-camp life. 

Q. Whether it is good, bad, or indifferent, it has not been accom- 
plished yet? — A. No, sir. I was encouraged to come here thi'ough 
Attorney Esty, in conversation. He says, "I believe I would go 
before Senator Harris and Senator Mason and show this." I accepted 
his advice and have come. That is all. 

Senator Harris. Well, if we do not know what it is composed of, 
I hardly know what we could do with it except to have it analyzed 
and ascertain. I believe that is all that is necessary, Mr. Cooke. 



238 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



STATEMENT OF WILLIAM S. EDWARDS. 

William S. Edwards, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by Senator Harris: 

Q, Please give your name, address, and occupation. — A. William S. 
Edwards, Chicago, 111. 

Q, What is your occupation? — A. My occupation at present is han- 
dling a natural mineral water, suppljang it to the country — supplying 
it, particularly, to Chicago and through the country. 

Q. Have you any experience in the general business of mineral 
waters? — A. I have had for tlie last twenty years, all through this 
country, all through the United States — that is, east of the Mississippi 
River. 

Q, For the purposes of this committee can j^ou state any facts as to 
the adulteration of mineral waters? — A. I have had considerable 
experience in regard to the adulteration of mineral waters, and par- 
ticularly in regard to carbonated drinks in the form of seltzer. I have 
had some exjjerience which has shown that a certain bottle attach- 
ment, called an attachment, has caused an immense amount of suffer- 
ing throughout the country in the form of rheumatism and neuralgia. 

Q. Owing to what? — A. Owing to the lead poisoning that came from 
the highly carbonated water being used through those siphons. 

Q. Through the siphons? — A. Yes. In one instance, at Hornellsville, 
]Sr. Y. , Dr. Robinson's death was caused by the use of water from these 
siphons. 

Q. That would not be the fault of the water? — A. It was caused by 
the lead i^oisoning. 

Q. It was simx)ly the method in which it was used? — A. Yes. 

Q. What we want to inquire about is the characteristics of the waters 
themselves. — A. Well, my point, more particularly, was to inform the 
committee about one thing there, and that is the injurious effects of 
lead siphons throughout the country, where people suppose those 
siphons are blocked tin instead of being lead. Principally they are 
composed of alloys of different kinds of lead and i^ewter, and different 
kinds are really injurious to public health. 

Q. The water, by passing through this lead, of course becomes 
poison. — A. Highly carbonated water in passing through the lead 
acquires jjoisonous properties. At the World's Fair I discovered 
twenty different alloys of blocked tin which were used there, and it 
occurred to me that the Government really should investigate that 
fact and ascertain how many different alloys there were that were 
used in these different siphons. 

Senator Harris. I do not think that is within our province. Of 
course there are a great many ways in which food products can be pre- 
pared and used and served Avhich may make them injurious. The 
limit of our instructions goes simply to the character of the food prod- 
ucts and drinks; so that I would not care to take up that question. 
In these sirups and mineral waters are there any injurious prop- 
erties that you know of? — A. I have, in my observation, obtained 
information of a great many different poisons which are used in 
colors. 

Q. In the sirups? — A. In the sirups; and I have ])een in nearly all 
the bottling establishments east of the Mississippi River, and have 
had occasion to do business with them. I have found that they use a 
great many of w^hat are said to be poisonous substances in coloring. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 239 

Q. Would you suppose them to be these aniline djes,, or wliat do you 
think is the poisonous substance'? — A. I have not investigated suffi- 
ciently to give the committee an intelligent idea. I have merely 
obtained information from different parties who have used them and 
observed their bad effects. 

Senator Harris. I do not think there is anything else that we care 
to consider. 

An adjournment was here taken sine die. 



June 5, 1899. 
The committee met at 10.30 a. m., at room 201, Grand Pacific Hotel, 
Chicago. 
Present, the chairman. 



STATEMENT OF ROBERT T. LUNHAM. 

Robert T. Lunham, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman : 

Q. What is your name? — A. Robert T. Lunham. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Answer. Packing business — pork packing. 

The Chairman. What is your firm name? 

Answer. Boj'd, Lunham & Co. 

The Chairman. Do you pack for export? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. As well as for home consumption? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Mr. Lunham, before this committee we have taken 
the evidence of a good many witnesses, some of whom are scientists of 
national reputation, on the subject of antiseptics and preservatives 
which are used in articles of food, and I desire to know from you, so 
far as I can properly, and without inquiring into any trade or business 
secrets of j^ours, your ideas as to the use of antiseptics — what you con- 
sider proper to use — if you don't object to stating just what j'ou do use. 
You understand we have no disposition to pry into people's business, 
but the proposition before the committee is to submit some national 
legislation. Several scientific men have recommended us to recom- 
mend a bill which almost prohibits the use of antiseptics in various 
articles of food. If j^ou have no objection, I M^ould be glad if you 
would state the antiseptics that you have to use in your business, or 
what is common in use in the trade, leaving out the question of your 
firm. 

Answer. I hope you don't ask me to give my scientific views on the 
matter, because I am not much on that. I am more on the practical 
side. 

The Chairman. I understand that. I expect to call some people 
more on the scientific branch of it. I want to know what the habit 
and custom is as to the use, for instance, in exporting — packing meats 
that you export. Do you use any antiseptics or preservatives in 
exporting meat? 

Answer. We use borax only in our export meats, but I would hardly 
call tliat a preservative, the way we use it. I would call it more — 
well, we use it more to protect the meat than to preserve it. The meat 



240 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

is already preserved when we apply the borax to it. We have been 
exporting, Mr. Chairman, for twenty-five or twenty-six years. We 
started in knowing nothing of borax in our trade, and as the business 
worked along we found that the English people especially found fault 
with our goods because they were too salty. We had to set our wits 
to work and find something that would obviate that, something that 
would init the stufi" before them as they required it, and after a good 
deal of experimenting and investigating we found out that borax was 
just the article required. There is no secret about it, and never was. 
We told them what we were doing, and of course had them report on 
it as we shipped the stuff along. 

At that time we were doing a very small business. In fact, the 
Englishmen would not buy the stuff we shipped in those days, because 
they had to see it. They were a little suspicious of us, because they 
thought we were very crude and didn't know how to put the stuff up. 
The American packers had a great deal to learn. They used to get 
their stuff too salty and keep it too long — anyway it didn't suit their 
epicurean tastes over there. But this borax has served to solve the 
whole problem. They said: "That is what we want. Why didn't 
you give it to us before? " That business has grown 

The Chairman. That is what I want to know. 

The Witness (continuing). Tremendously. The city of Liverpool 
alone will take from 18,000 to 20,000 boxes of our bacon weekly. 
Twenty-five years ago the}^ wouldn't take that much in a year; and 
when we pack this stuff for them, we simply take the meat right out 
of the salt wliere it is cured, or saltpeter, and we apply just as little 
borax as we can to the surface, because it is expensive stuff, and the 
least quantity we can get along with to fill the purpose the better. 
When that meat gets over there this borax is all washed off. It sim- 
ply keeps the meat from getting slimy on the way over. It gets 
exposed to heat in transit, and the borax keeps it from getting slimy. 
As soon as they get it over there they take it out of the box and wash 
the borax off, and it is put in the same condition it was in when it 
left here. Although I have never seen the meat unpacked over there 
myself, yet those of our firm who have gone over there and seen it 
unpacked have said that there is about as much borax washed off the 
meat when it gets there as there was put on it here originally. I 
should say we use about from 1 to li j)er cent on the surface of the 
meat when it leaves here. 

The Chairman. From 1 to 1^ per cent? 

Answer. Yes. We use as high as 7 pounds a box — 500 pounds to 
the box — 500 to 600 pounds. If the meat is dry, we use less, because 
less adheres to it, although we brush it off as much as we can when 
we are packing it, to economize the borax. 

The Chairman. As a matter of fact, do they insist on having it 
cured in that way? Do they make orders saying that it shall be cured 
with borax? 

Answer. Most decidedlj^; yes, sir. All our code books read that 
way. We can't sell goods to them packed in salt. They won't have it. 

The Chairman. You say j^ou have been using borax for a good 
many years? 

Answer. We started to use it in 1875, and our trade has been increas- 
ing ever since. 

The Chairman. Have you ever heard, or has there ever been any 
complaint made to you through any depai'tment, of any deleterious 
effect on the health of anyone from the use of pork cured by borax? 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 241 

Answer. No, sir; I never heard of anything of that kind until the 
last few weeks, since this agitation has been started. I have used a 
good deal of it myself. When I take meat home I always have it 
rubbed in borax. It keeps the flies off of it in summer time. 

The Chairman. What is boracic acid; do you know? It is really 
ground borax, isn't it? 

Answer. The same thing; j^es. 

The Chairman. It is the same thing? 

Answer. Yes. As I understand it, boracic acid is in the crude state, 
but we use it pulverized. It just looks like flour. 

Q. What percentage of the exports of pork go out boraxed? — A, 
Well, I should say, to what we call the fancy English trade, 95 per 
cent of the meat is packed in borax. You see the reason they want 
it in borax is this : That if we put salt enougli on it to keep it in con- 
dition until they get it before the customer or consumer, they get it 
so salty that they can't use it; so when we pack it in borax we keep 
it in salt until it is safe. Then we pack it and put it in a box, with 
the borax sprinkled over it, and that keeps it in condition until they 
get hold of it. It doesn't cure any more. I have always been under 
the imiiression that the meat didn't absorb any of the borax whatever. 
I read so many things in the paper nowadays almut it that I begin to 
think the newspapers know more about it than I do. 

The Chairman. You haven't any expert knowledge on the question 
as to the absorbing qualities of meat after it had been cured in salt? 
I suppose you don't care to give any opinions as an expert. You have 
your own theory, though, that it does not absorb the borax. 

Answer. I believe it does not. 

The Chairman. You believe it does not? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And when they eat meat, as a rule, the one who 
eats it does not get the borax? 

Answer. There may be a certain amount on the surface that remains, 
but the percentage must be very small. Of course, we have never 
given that much studj^, because we look on it as perfectly harmless. 
I have seen customers of ours whom we have had for twenty-five years, 
and they look very healthy, and they eat that boraxed meat all the 
time. They laugh at me when I ask them if it disagrees with them. 
It is an absolute necessity to us in our business, because we have so 
much confidence in it. 

The Chairman. You have never heard of any exception to that 
rule? 

Answer. Never. 

The Chairman. That is, you have never heard of persons being 
made sick from tlie use of borax? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Could you carry on your business without the use 
of borax, so far as any known i)reservative is used now? 

Answer. Well, no. If we couldn't use borax it would bring us to 
a standstill. Something would have to be found to take its place. 

The CHx^irman. Do you think of anj^hing else you wish to state 
in regard to that matter, at all, Mr. Lunham? 

Answer. No, sir; I believe not. 

The Chairman. You say you have used borax for twenty-five 
years. Within what time has it begun to increase in use — that is, 
this large increase that you speak of in the trade generally? 
-F p IG 



242 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. For the first year or so I think we were about the only- 
users of it, and by degrees the other packers found themselves com- 
pelled to use it. In fact, thej^ used to look on the use of borax as a 
sort of curiosity, I remember, at one time, and we had to furnish the 
borax when we laought the stufE outside from these other pacl^ers; 
but it was a very short time, a very few years, before tliey all got 
into the use of it, and now it is in general use and has been for fully ' 
twenty years. 

The Chairman. Do I understand you that you get j^our orders by 
mail and by cable, and that these orders direct the use of borax? 

Answer. Yes, sir; in our code books everything reads — at the head 
of every page is: "To be j)acked in borax." That is to our English — 
what we call our English fanc}' trade. 

The Chairman. Is that so in Germany as well? You get some 
orders from Germany, I suppose? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do they want it the same way? 

Answer. Yes, sir; they do. There are some classes of meat that 
you can't ship in salt. The meat would arrive in such shape that it 
could not be used, more especially pickled-cured meats and shoul- 
ders and all that kind of stuff. 

The Chairman. What do you say as to the comparative strength 
of the ham when packed in salt and when packed in borax? Which 
makes the stronger ham? 

Answer. The stronger cure? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Answer. Of course the borax has nothing to do with the cure. You 
have got to cure your ham before you apply the borax. 

The Chairman. I understand. After you have it cured with salt 
you put on the borax. What effect does that have? What effect does 
the borax have as to the strength of the ham? 

Answer. It has no effect. 

The Chairman. It preserves it right where the curing process 
left it? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Without hardening it? 

Answer. When you take the meat out of the salt and expose it to 
the weather it will form a slime which will ruin it in a very short 
time. Borax stops that slime and affects only the surface. It will 
not affect the inside. It is only the surface. 

The Chairman. I think you have already stated that if you pack 
1 in salt and ship it over there it would be too strong — the salty taste — 
for their taste? 

Answer. Too salty; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And it would not be so merchantable or salable if 
it was too salt}^? 

Answer. It would be worthless. We can't sell hard, salty stuff 
over there. 

. STATEMENT OF C. Y. KNIGHT. 

C. Y. Knight, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

Q. Mr. Knight, you have assisted the committee before with your 
evidence. You are connected with a dairy journal. What is the 
name of it? — A. The Chicago Dairy Produce Paper. 



adulti:kation of food products. 243 

The Chairman. And you have given this matter oi' dairy i) rod nets 
your careful study for some years? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I wanted to know, for the benefit of tlie committee, 
your judgment, from a practical standpoint and from a scientific 
standpoint, as I think your evidence shows that you have put your- 
self witliin that class, what you have to say about the use of borax in 
butter. 

Answer. A year ago last winter I weut to England for the purpose 
of finding out why we could not lay our butter down in the English 
markets in the condition that it came from Australia or Argentina, 
Australia being probably three times the distance and coming across 
the e(iuator, and Argentina being a greater distance from the English 
markets than our American ports and shipping points. I made a 
very careful investigation in Liverpool, Manchester, London, and 
Bristol on those points. The universal verdict of the butter men was 
that our butter would not stand it. That is to say, it hadn't the keep- 
ing or staying qualities that were possessed by the Australian and 
Argentinian and French butters, one great difficulty being in the 
methods the English people pursued in taking care of their butter as 
compared witli ours. They use no ice boxes over there. 

Then I went to the largest importing firm of Australian and French 
butters in London, which is largely the distributing point for all of 
England with those butters, and questioned them regarding the method 
in wliich the butters were i)acked. Such firms as Trengrouse Brothers, 
Lovell & Christmas, Mills & Sparrow, and others of the largest import- 
ers, told me that they would not think of importing butter from Aus- 
tralia and Argentina, or wouldn't think of putting the Fren(di butters 
in the shai^e that they are ]olaced on the English market without the 
use of a i^reservative. I then questioned them as to the character of 
the preservative and they told me that it was a boron preservative 
that was put up by companies who use borax as its basis; that it was 
practically all borax ; I believe a little salt added to it ; but it was a 
purified precipitate and was refined borax, different from the borax 
that comes out of the ground to the extent of having been purified. 

I also carefully investigated the matter by interviewing Australians. 
I don't know but I have in mj^ pocket the name of a man 

The Chairman. Before you leave that English matter, may I inter- 
rupt you a moment? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Did they give you an}- idea as to how it was used, 
whether it w^as mLxed in the mixing of tlie butter or put around it 
after it was made. Did you investigate the manner of preserving it 
there? 

Answer. I didn't there, Senator, but the method is very simple, and 
done the same the world over. It is either mixed with the salt or 
sprinkled on the butter before tire working and worked in. It is put 
through the butter. There is no question about that. I had an Aus- 
tralian visit me a few days ago — I will give you his name — Mr. James 
Patton, of W. II. Bartram & Son, of Melbourne, who brought a letter 
of introduction to me fi-om New York, and I questioned him very 
closely, his firm having charge of the exportation of 75 per cent of the 
Australian butter that comes to London or to England. I questioned 
him very closely in regard to this matter, because I have been placed 
in considerably the same position from jjublishing the truth as I find 



244 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

that the English people have in their criticisms of the public, and he 
told me that they had practically come to the conclusion that the 
export butter trade from Australia would be a total failure without 
the use of that jDreservative. 

(The witness was withdrawn from the stand temporarily.) 

STATEMENT OF FRANK BILLINGS. 

Frank Billings, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. What is your name'? 

Answer. Frank Billings. 

The Chairman. And your profession and residence? 

Answer. Physician; Chicago. 

The Chairman. Doctor, we have been having before this committee 
some evidence upon the use of antiseptics in food products, or pre- 
servatives — perhaps that is a better word. We have had some scien- 
tific opinions as to the use of borax, and the committee would be very 
glad to have your opinion as to the use of borax in the preparation of 
food products? AVhat is borax, to start with. Doctor? 

The Witness. I beg jour pardon? 

The Chairman. What is borax? 

Answer. Borax is a salt, coming from the element boron. It occurs 
in nature as borax. Biborate of soda is its chemical name. 

The Chairman. It is mined in its natural condition? 

Answer. Often mined in its natural condition. 

The Chairman. There has been considerable discussion before the 
committee, some experts feeling it was dangerous to be used in pre- 
serving meats and butter and other articles of food ; and the witness 
who has just left the stand, Mr. Lunham, testifies that his meat is 
preserved that way, practically, and that he ships abroad, and that it 
is so ordered from Germany and England. We would like j^our opin- 
ion about it, if you will be kind enough to give it. 

The Witness. Perhaps I might say a word or two in explanation of 
what I would have to say in that respect 

The Chairman. State it in your own Avay. 

The Witness (continuing). So that it would be better understood. 
Borax is a salt, a substance which weuse very commonly in medicine, 
and which is even used in domestic affairs very much as the so-called 
bicarbonate of soda is used. A common cooking ingredient and a 
common medicinal remedy. Borax has come into more common use 
in recent years and has supplanted bicarbonate of soda, both in domes- 
tic and in medicinal use, both because it is in one sense slightlj^ anti;^ 
septic, stopping fermentation and decomposition better than soda, 
and at the same time is as good a neutralizer of acids as bicarbonate 
of soda. x\8 far as its medicinal effect is concerned, we use it in medi- 
cine, outside of surgery, very much for the purpose of neutralizing 
acids and cleansing surfaces. I use it every day, for instance, in 
stomach disturbances, washing out stomachs, i)utting from 1 to 5 per 
cent of it in water to render the water slightlj^ alkaline and to better 
remove mucus from the surface of the stomach, and also to neutralize 
the acid, any abnormal acid, which maybe there; and I use it with 
impunity. 

However, like every other ingredient, borax or boric acid, which 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 245 

is the essential acid from which it is made, would be poisonous if over- 
used medicinally. Large doses of it might produce untoward effects, 
and especially might it produce untoward effects in certain individ- 
uals, because some individuals have idiosyncrasies to the use of any- 
thing, even to simple food products. One individual can not take 
honey, for instance, because it poisons him; another individual can 
not eat fresh fish. One individual can not take soda because it i^oisons 
him. One individual might not be able to take borax or boracic acid 
because it poisons him. But, beyond those things, and if used as we 
use everything else, in proper dosage, it is not poisonous. In surgery 
it is used as an antiseptic, both in washing wounds and in packing 
wounds. Immense amounts of it are dusted on the surface of wounds 
for the purpose of keeping them clean and to prevent the growth of 
pathogenic germs upon wounds. And while there is a history in medi- 
cine of an occasional untoward effect from it, there is no bad, common 
general effect. I mean there is no common effect from it. It will 
occur in individuals as poisoning would occur from the eating of 
honey, for instance, or because probably of the peculiar idiosyncrasy 
of that individual. 

Now, it bears the same practical relation to other so-called preserv- 
atives in preserving meats that it does in medicine. It has come in 
recent years into more common use in preserving meats, especially 
hog products, and in preserving butter, because it was found that 
those things kept better with it than thej' did with common salt. 
And to my mind it is no more injurious in overdosage to the human 
economy than would be common salt when used in the same way. It 
is a well-known fact that fish and meats preserved with common salt, 
if used too frequently and without other foods, produce scurv3\ We 
know from the history of our shipping interests tliat sailors suffer 
from scurvy when they are put upon salt meats without fresh vege- 
tables, and that is due entirely to the too continuous use of common 
salt. The same thing would hold good with boric acid if used. If the 
meats preserved with it were used in the same way, an untoward effect 
might be produced; but there is no more danger, to my mind, in pre- 
serving with borax than there would be in using a meat preserved in 
the same way -with common salt. I do not know that I can add to 
that short statement. 

The Chairman. The effect of common salt upon the stomach, Doe- 
tor, is not to stop fermentation, is it? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. But the tendency of 

Answer. I beg your pardon. It does in one way. Common salt is 
decomposed in the stomach and forms hydrochloric acid in the 
stomach, the natural acid of the stomach, and when taken in certain 
amounts is salutary and healthful. Hydrochloric acid in the stomach 
is an antiseptic, and is the thing above everything else Avhich pre- 
serves the human body against germs which enter the body in tliat 
way. Cholera and typhoid-fever germs probably can not gain access 
to the body by the stomach which contains a natural amount of hydro- 
chloric acid, or at least it very materially wards off those diseases; but 
beyond that it is not an antiseptic in tlie sense of applying it to a 
wound or anything of that kind. And if taken in large amounts, 
instead of producing that salutary effect, while hydrochloric acid 
may be there, it will directly sicken the individual and produce blood 
states which are similar to scurvy; that is, common salt will. 



246 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Yon think you could use with safety the same 
amount of borax tJiat you can of salt? 

Answer. I do, in the preserving of meats. 

Q. You have used borax medicinally, you say? — A. I use it every 
day. 

The Chairman. And not only for the cleansing- of wounds exter- 
nally, but for internal use — for the stomach? 

Answer. Yes. 

The Chairman. And its general effect you have already explained, 
that it has an antiseptic effect and helps to retard fermentation. 
Now, how large doses have you given? My idea in asking this would 
be to see — the evidence before the committee is that in a package of 
some 500 pounds of meat they would put 6 or 7 pounds of boracic 
acid or borax. Tliat would be less than 1^ per cent. So that if a 
person were to eat half a pound he would get a very small amount — 
or if he were to eat a quarter of a pound he w^ould get a very small 
amount of borax. What do you say of its constant use? Is there any 
more danger in that than in common salt? 

Answer. Probably no more than in salt. The dosage of borax is about 
like that of soda, 10 grains or 20 grains or even 30 gi'ains at a dose. 
But of course one does not give that amount daily. That would be 
excessive. One would not think of giving soda or common salt daily 
in that dosage to an individual. It would sicken him. The stomach 
would not tolerate it after a time. 

The Chairman. And then there is the exceptional case which you 
have mentioned. To some stomachs it would be more grateful to use 
salt and to some more grateful to use borax? 

Answer. This fact has been proved, that common salt and borax, or 
boracic acid, up to a certain percentage, increases the power of diges- 
tion, including the mouth — that is, salivary digestion — the stomach 
digestion, and the intestinal digestion. If you go over 2 i^er cent it 
retards it apj)arentl3^ in all of them. If you sta}^ under 2 per cent it 
apparently hastens instead of retards digestion. 

The Chairman. Then, of course, if you are eating meat, from 1 to 
1-^ per cent on the meat, even if it all remained on the meat, it would 
not be any special harm? 

Answer. It probably could not do any special harm; but it would 
be impossible to have that amount of borax in any ingredient which 
you would eat when it was simply put on it to preserve it. It can not 
possibly penetrate it. Even with butter it could not penetrate it. 

The Chairman. The gentleman who was last on the stand, Mr. 
Lunham, testified that he was a practical man and a packer, but he 
had an idea, and his opinion was that the borax did not j)enetrate the 
meat. 

Answer. No. 

The Chairman. And when they washed it, after shipping it, they 
practically washed it off? Is that your opinion, from a scientific 
standpoint, that very little of it jjenetrates? 

Answer. It penetrates the surface of the meat to a slight amount. 
You do not need a doctor to tell you that. A farmer can tell you that 
in preserving his hams with salt he must soak them for months with 
salt brine. You would have to do the same with borax. Salt junk 
has got to be soaked for months in sa.lt brine before it will penetrate 
entirely through the meat. 

The Chairman. You know about the use of saltpeter? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 247 

Answer. Yes ; it is far more deleterious than any one of the other 
things we liave mentioned. 

Tlie Chairman. Will you tell the committee why? 

Answer. Because it is a nitrate of potash. Potash salts have a 
more deleterious effect upon the human body than do the soda prepa- 
rations, all of them having a tendency to produce degeneration of 
muscle, for instance of the heart, and a considerably injurious effect 
upon the kidneys, when constantly used, and all of the nitrates prac- 
ticall}^ have a more specific effect in that way than do the carbon 
compounds. 

The Chairman. You may state, for my use, j^our special line of prac- 
tice and what your experience has been, your course of training, etc. 

Answer. My i)ractice is confined to what we call internal medicine — 
that is, the treatment of so-called internal diseases; diseases of all 
of the organs of the body, so called; nowadays it is called internal 
medicine. I have been engaged for seventeen years in teaching or 
attempting to teach that same subject in the schools. 

The Chairman. What medical colleges are j'ou connected with? 

Answer. I have been connected with Chicago Medical, but am now, 
for a 3^ear, connected with Rush. 

The Chairman. What chair do you hold there? 

Answer. I have the chair of the practice of medicine. 

The Chairman. You have made, then, a special study in connec- 
tion with internal treatment of the effect of different food j)roducts? 

Answer. I have made, probably, an unusual study in the direction 
of stomach diseases. 

The Chairman. And you are now engaged in very active practice? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. If you have any suggestion to make for the benefit 
of this committee, we would like to have it. We want a national food 
legislation, so as to secure uniform itj^, to let the consumer know, as 
a rule, what he is buying. If you have any jiractical suggestions to 
make, we will be glad to have them. 

The Witness. The only suggestion I have to make is this, that I 
believe it is the duty of Government ofiicials, both national and State, 
to place upon jDackages a notice which will indicate how the contents 
of any i)ackage is preserved ; but at the same time I think or believe 
that they should also convey to the public the fact that an ingredient 
used as a preservative is practically harmless. 

The Chairman. Don't you believe that the best way to get at that 
would be to have a national board 

Answer. Yes, sir; I do. 

The Chairman (continuing). Under some department, so that 
scientific men could take each question as it arises, just as the other 
boards of the Government do — like the State board of health, the 
National Board of Railroad Commissioners, and so on — don't you think 
it is a sufficiently important subject that the Government should fol- 
low every other civilized government in the Avorld, and give some pro- 
tection to the consumer when he buys to eat and drink? 

Answer. I do. 

The Chairman. Have you ever had occasion to examine the question 
of antiseptics in beer? 

Answer. No; I never have. 

The Chairman. You never have analyzed any beer? 

Answer. No, sir. 



248 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 

The Chairman. Formaldehyde is being used a great deal in beers 
and wines; that is a product of wood alcohol, isn't it? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You would regard that as a bad thing for the 
stomach? 

Answer. That, I think, is a bad thing to use in foods. 

The Chairman, And salicylic acid, what is that made of, Doctor? 

Answer. Salicylic acid is a natural product of some plants, more 
especially the wintergreen. It is found in about from 70 to 80 per 
cent in wintergreen oil, in natural product, but the salicylic acid of 
commerce, of the market, is made sj^nthetically, and is made from 
petroleum. It is one of the products of petroleum. 

The Chairman. In other words, commercial salicylic acid is not 
salicylic acid at all? 

Answer. Yes ; it is salicylic acid chemically, but that which is used 
is*not the natural salicj^lic acid. 

The Chairman. What do you say as to the use of that in the 
stomach? 

Answer. Well, it is more directly harmful, as it is not a natural 
ingredient of the body at all and does irritate the stomach very fre- 
quently. We use it very frequently and commonly in rheumatism, 
for instance, and rheumatic disorders, but it is a common fact that it 
disturbs the stomach very easily, and so we get up different combina- 
tions of it, salicylate of soda and salicylate of phenol, known as salol 
in medicine, which are used, but they are drugs which are not used 
commonly, as is soda, the bicarbonate of soda, or common salt, or 
boric acid, or borax. It is used as a preservative on meats and things 
of that kind, but is used in very much smaller quantities than anything 
else and can not be mixed with borax or boric acid. 

The Chairman. Salicylic acid and boracic acid will not mix? 

Answer. They will mix, but you get so bitter a compound that no 
one would eat the meat on which they were put. It makes a fearfully 
bitter compound. 

I want to modifj^ this point about salicylic acid this much. It is a 
splendid antifermentive, and does not necessarily need to .be used in 
large amounts. For instance, a quarter, or even, I suppose, one-tenth 
of 1 per cent would stop the fermentation of cider, for instance, and 
in that amount would do absolutely no harm. 

The Chairman. One of the doctors also said that the danger from 
salicylic acid came because the brewers would frequently use an extra 
amount of salicylic acid to cover up neglect in proper brewing and to 
preserve the beer longer by having more in it. But jon would think 
this. Doctor, would you not, that any beer, wine, or cider, or any 
article of food or drink that contained salicylic acid should show it? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I think so. 

The Chairman. Because there are some stomachs more easily 
affected by it than others? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. We were discussing the question whether we could 
really get along without food preservatives; and if so, to what extent; 
whether refrigeration answers the whole demand. 

Answer. I have no doubt that refrigeration is the best process we 
have of preserving foods, but it is impossible to carry it out with our 
present facilities, practicall}^ and there is no question whatever that 
we must use some preservative. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD FKODUCTS. 249 

The Chairman. There are some dangers also arising from refrig- 
eration, are there not? 

Answer. There certainly is a danger. 

The Chairman. What dangers are there? 

Answer. The chief danger is this, that the moment an animal is 
killed post-mortem changes begin, the formation of toxins, which it 
would be a pretty hard matter for a layman to understand ; the for- 
mation of substances the result of, not decomposition, necessarily^, and 
yet it is a beginning of decomposition ; and refrigeration may retard 
that and hold it in abeyance — may so retard it and hold it in abeyance 
that not enough of it is formed to really be poisonous; and yet there 
is more or less of that poison in the meat, and this is stopped by a 
preservative, absolutely stopped. 

The Chairman. Then there is as much, or really greater, danger in 
refrigeration as there is in a borax preservative? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I think quite as much. 

The Chairman. May I ask you a moment longer on the question of 
aniline dyes. Aniline dyes are, I understand, a product of coal tar, 
and we expect to call some people who are manufacturers of confec- 
tionery. It has been claimed by some that aniline dyes are not dele- 
terious to health, and some say different. Will you be good enough 
to give the committee the benefit of your opinion and information? 

Answer. Very few of them are used medicinally. Some of them are 
used with impunity. Blue — called methylene blue — usually is a thing 
which can be taken by the individual with impunity, apparently. It 
may be taken in such quantities that the urine becomes as blue as 
indigo without a single untoward effect. Others of the aniline dyes — 
and there are all colors, compound colors, and so on — are said to produce 
somewhat poisonous effect from the essential aniline. Aniline is an 
oily fluid, and from this the colors are made; and aniline oil is said 
to be somewhat toxic, and some of the colors made from it are said to 
be slightly toxic, but others are not. Vermilion red is said to be 
slightly toxic. I suppose that is used a good deal in coloring. Blue 
is not poisonous. 

The Chairman. Would you recommend the use of aniline dj^es gen- 
erally in confectionery and things going into the stomachs of children? 

Answer. No, I would not. 

The Chairman. Or into the stomach of anyone? 

Answer. No, I would not. I would like to see the whole thing 
prohibited in manufacturing candies. 

The Chairman. What do you say about terra alba being used in 
confectionery, if it is used? If it is disclosed that the candies of the 
country are largely adulterated with white earth, would you say that 
was good or bad? 

Answer. Bad. Not as a necessarily toxic thing, but as a substance 
which would be foreign to the body; and while we don't know very 
much about the effects of earth upon the human economy, we do know 
that there are a class of people, even in this country, down in the 
Carolinas, who are earth eaters and who are degenerates. You pos- 
sibly have heard of them — clay eaters. 

The Chairman. I read an article in a magazine once that I never 
could believe 

The Witness. It is a fact. Those people are stunted and are 
degenerates who have the habit of eating clay. 

The Chairman. You mean mentally and physically degenerates? 

Answer. Yes, sir; mentally and physically degenerate. 



250 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Have you anything further to suggest, that you 
know of, that is in common use? I don't care to take your time too 
long, though we are very glad to have it even for a few moments. 

The Witness. I think not. 

The Chairman. I think you have stated that you used borax or 
boracic acid very freely in your practice and that you use it with 
children? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you used it for bladder difficulties? — A. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Grive a period of time and state the quantity that 
you have used in a case, say, for a week or ten days. 

Answer. In washing out the bladder or the bowels or the stomach 
we use it daily in from 1 to 5 per cent solution. For internal use, a 
child's dosage of course depends upon its age. For a grown individual 
10-grain doses or 20 or 30 grain doses three times a day for a week 
would be safe, with a proportionate amount for children. 

The Chairman. To retain in the stomach? 

Answer. To retain in the stomach. 

The Chairman. That is more than you would get in butter and meat 
for a year's steady diet, isn't it, practically? 

Answer. I think so; and one would use it, let me say, exactly as 
one would use bicarbonate of soda — exactly in tlie same way. One 
would be very unwise to go on and use those things steadily for an 
indefinite time, but for a week, or one or two days, or perhaps two 
weeks, no one could criticise the use of borax or of bicarbonate of 
soda by anyone in that way. 



STATEMENT OF C. Y. KNIGHT— Recalled. 

C. Y. Knight resumed the witness stand and further testified as 
follows : 

Examination by the Chairman : 

The Chairman. We were discussing and you were stating the con- 
versation you had with the largest exporter from Australia to England 
of Australian butter, and he told you 

Answer. Australasian butter. That takes in New Zealand as well. 
That is what they call the two countries. 

The Chairman. Did you learn by your investigations whether it is 
put in in the salt or is it dissolved or washed? When we make butter, 
we put salt in it. Do they put that in the same as they put salt in? 

Answer. As a rule it is mixed with the salt, sprinkled with the salt, 
and then worked. 

The Chairman. They sprinkle the salt with borax? 

Answer. With borax. This gentleman told me that their rule was 
to use 1 per cent with the salt, or on the butter, and the working of 
the butter, which works out probably 30 per cent of water, or 20 per 
cent of water, takes up about half of it, leaving about one-half of 1 
per cent. That is about the amount that is used in butter, from one- 
half to three-quarters of 1 per cent when 1 per cent is added. So 
that really one-half of 1 per cent is the average that is advised by 
the English importers. But in order to get that you must put in 
about 1 per cent. 

The Chairman. Have you ever seen any of the orders that they 
make for butter? 

Answer. Oh, yes. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 251 

The Chairman. Do they specify what amount, if any, of borax is 
to be nsed? 

Answer. I rememl)er one lot of butter that was put up in Kansas 
two years ago for export for Trengrouse Brothers. That order was 
for 4,000 boxes, and the order stipulated that there should be 1 per 
cent added — that is, used — and in the washing-out process that leaves 
one-half of 1 per cent. That is the only one that I have seen where 
it was stipulated as to the quantity. The rule is that they take it for 
granted that an exporter knows how to put up butter witli the pre- 
servative in, and they simply stipulate, as a rule, what kind of a pre- 
servative is to be used. They don't say "preservative," but they 
generally designate the brand, because there are preservatives and 
preservatives. Some have salicylic acid and other substances which 
are regarded as deleterious, which are discountenanced in England — 
not permitted. 

The Chairman. What do the English purchasers specify in their 
orders? 

Answer. They specify a boron preservative. 

The Chairman. And a boron preservative means borax? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do the other shippers of butter into England use 
more borax than we do? 

Answer. You mean to say the larger percentage or the larger 

The Chairman. No; the larger percentage. That's what I mean. 
That is assuming that we were not ordered to put it in. 

Answer. Oh, yes, indeed. Practically France, Argentina, and Aus- 
tralia all use it, while our attempts have been very largely from peo- 
ple who were not accustomed to or acquainted with the business to 
try to get along without it. 

The Chairman. Well, relatively, who gets the most of that busi- 
ness in England? 

Answer. We don't get very much of it, I can tell you that. We 
don't get any of it, practically, if they can get it any j)lace else, because 
you tnWy realize the sentiment that has grown up here against the use 
of preservatives. I have run up against it jjrobably more than any- 
body else in that respect, because, in the first place, people have got- 
ten their idea or sentiment regarding the use of preservatives from the 
use of a preservative in milk, which everybody knows should be abso- 
lutely pure as can be. Milk that is fed by the quart to a child or 
infant should be absolutely pure, and I don't think that a person 
should be permitted to put in any kind of foreign substance in that 
milk, not even water; that there should be no risk there, because a 
child that lives on milk takes enormous quantities. 

You take, for instance, if a child should use a pint or quart of milk 
a day, it would be taking into its stomach, if there was one-half or 
three-quarters of one per cent preservative, more of that preservative 
in one day than a man would take in butter in six months, almost. 
So that there has been a sentiment, and I think a just sentiment, 
against the use of it in milk. I certainly should discountenance it, 
and I wouldn't advocate it nor permit it to be advocated to onr people 
if I could help it. I am just as much against it as I would be against 
any Kind of a foreign substance in milk if it was deadly poison. That 
is the way that the sentiment has grown up against the use of pre- 
servatives, so that that extends, and has extended without reason, to 
all other products where the quantitj^ is so small as to be infinitesimal. 
So that we have people in this country who would not permit people 
to use a preservative in the factory in any shape. It is a prejudice. 



252 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. My attention is called to the fact that the Ameri- 
can exporters sent to the Agricultural Department samples of bat- 
ter to show what the American purchaser would have to eomijete 
with. I would like to have the benefit of that in the record, briefly 
stated. 

Answer. The Agricultural Department of the United States has for 
a number of years imported butters from foreign countries to bring 
over and show our butter makers what the English markets wanted, 
and then has advised them not to make butter like it. That is prac- 
tically the condition that exists. The last convention was held at 
Sioux Falls, S. Dak. , in which there were large exhibits. We analyzed 
one shown to be preserved with boracic acid. Those were shown to our 
butter makers to show them what kind of butter the people in England 
wanted, in order that it might keep and get there in good condition; 
and yet anyone getting up in that convention and advocating the 
making of butter in that manner, I think, would have been thrown out 
of the door, so strong was the sentiment against it. 

The Chairman. How did those butters compare with ours that were 
not preserved with borax? 

Answer. Well, in going the same distance our butters would not 
have compared in any way favorably at all. Thej^ would not have 
been merchantable at all, going the same distance, I think. Take the 
butter the way we make it and send it the same distance, and it would 
have been something like Mr. Broadwell described it, as butter that 
went into process — process butter. That question of foreign butter 
is rather a delicate one with the Agricultural Department, because 
Mr. Wilson is so opposed to the use of preservative that he would not 
like to acknowledge, or have it known even, that that butter was pre- 
served with borax. 

The Chairman. Then, briefly stated, your opinion, Mr. Knight, 
is, from your long experience and study, that borax is not an unhealthy 
preservation for butter and that it w^ould be well to use it where we 
are trying to compete with foreign markets? 

Answer. Mj^ observation and the results of my investigations lead 
me to believe this: That the physicians who have actually exj)eri- 
mented and have sought practical examples and made practical 
experiments extending over a period of years universallj^ testify to 
the effect that they have had no deleterious effects from it, while other 
physicians, who go on the ground that anything that will stop any 
kind of fermentation will also stop digestion, will testify on that ground 
that any kind of a preservative is harmful, and for that reason advo- 
cate the exclusion of it. When I was in England I looked up all the 
authorities on boron salts. At one time we offered a reward of 1250 
or 1300, or something like that, for any case that could be shown 
where there ever had been, or where it could be proved that there 
ever had been, any injurious effects from the use of a boron preserva- 
tive, and the people who had been talking about the injurious effect 
of these boron preservatives up to that time didn't produce it at all, 
although we offered to pay the expenses of anybody who would pro- 
duce it — not only to pa}^ the reward, but to pay the expenses of the 
investigation, if they would only show where the injury could be 
found — if they would only point it out. It has not brought to light 
one single case. 

(A recess was here taken until 2.30 o'clock p. m.) 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 253 

2.30 P. M. 
The committee met pursuant to recess. 
Present, the chairman. 

STATEMENT OF HENRY ELLSWORTH. 

Henry Ellsworth, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Direct examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Answer. Henry Ellsworth. 

The Chairman. Your residence and occupation? 

Answer. Chicago. My business is commission business. 

The Chairman. General commission? 

Answer. No. It is almost wholly handling meats and pro visions — 
buying and shipping provisions. 

The Chairman. We have had considerable evidence before this 
committee, Mr. Ellsv/orth, as to the desirability or nondesirability of 
the use of the preservative known as borax, or what are known as 
boron preservatives, products of borax. The committee is investi- 
gating what, if any, food products are deleterious to health. 

The Witness. Y^es. 

The Chairman. I wish you would state your experience and your 
information, as unbiased as may be, in view of the fact that you are 
engaged in that business. The committee would like your judgment 
as to the use of borax. 

The Witness. I have been in the business of shipping meat for fif- 
teen or twenty years, and we always — we don't think w^e could ship 
meats except they were shipped in borax; and the experience I have 
had has always been satisfactory where meats were so packed. I 
shipped just a short time ago by mistake a shipment of hams, I think 
it was, to Bristol, and half of those hams were by mistake packed in 
salt and the other half were packed as they should have been for ship- 
ment. The whole shipment should have been j)acked in borax. The 
hams that went over in salt got out of condition and the shipment 
was refused, and I had to paj^ the claims against it. The boi-ax meat 
went all right and always does. We have never had anj^ trouble with 
meats that were shipped in borax yet. 

The Chairman. Do you feel that it> is so important that it is abso- 
lutelj^ necessary to it? 

Answer. I don't know what we could do without it. I don't think 
we could do an j thing without it at all. I would not know what to do 
if we could not have borax to pack these meats in. 

The Chairman. How long have you been using it? 

Answer. Fifteen or twenty years. 

The Chairman. Your shipments are quite large? 

Answer. I ship a good deal of stuff; yes, sir. We are shipping 
every week and almost every da3^ 

The Chairman. Did you ever hear directly or indirectly of any 
complaint as to the healthfulness 

Answer. I never did. I am surprised that anybody should say anj^- 
thing against borax. I use it in my house for Avashing my teeth and 
my eyes and for bathing and for everything, I can not understand 
how people can get along without the use of it. I have had a good 
deal of trouble with my ej'es, and for years I had that trouble until 
I got hold of borax and used borax and water on them, and I never 



254 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

could get along- without it at all; and now every time that they give 
me any trouble I use borax and water and it cures them right off, 
and I have no more trouble with them. 

The Chairman. When you get orders from the old country do your 
orders specify that borax shall be used to pack the meats in? 

Answer. They stipulate that the meat shall be packed in borax, yes. 

The Chairman. Now, when you say packed in borax — the borax is 
used, I understand, after they have been j)reserved in salt? 

Answer. Yes, sir; after they have been cured. 

The Chairman. Salt cured? 

Answer. Yes, sir; salt cured. I say cured — they are most always 
shipped before they are fully cured. It is not fully cured when it is 
shipped out. 

The Chairman. But the question of curing goes on? 

Answer. Yes, sir; this meat is taken and put into a box and rolled 
around in the borax, and the borax is rubbed all around the piece. 
Each piece is thrown into a box, and there is borax in that box and it 
is rolled about in there, and this borax is rubbed all around these 
pieces of meat, and then it is taken out of the box and another piece 
put in and treated the same way. 

The Chairman. What percentage of waste, say in a package — you 
send them out of about 500 pounds weight? 

Answer, About 500 pounds to the box. 

The Chairman. About how many pounds of borax would get into 
that 500 pounds of meat? 

Answer. I don't believe I can answer that question. We always 
have a barrel of borax setting there, and we throw these pieces of 
meat into that box and use whatever we can rub around that meat. 

The Chairman. Some one has testified that they took in somewhere 
from 5 to 6 or 7 pounds. That is about 1^ per cent or less. 

The Witness. I should think there would be that. Yes; I should 
think there would be that much. 

The Chairman. Do you think it really goes into and penetrates 
the meat, or is it washed oflE before it is used? 

Answer. No; I don't believe that that goes into the meat. 

The Chairman. It rather retains its place on the surface of the 
preservative? 

Answer. That is what I think it does. I think it preserves the 
meat and keeps the pickle in the meat and the pickle cures the meat, 
and this borax keeps the pickle from running out of the meat. That 
is my opinion. 

The Chairman. Do you use any salicylic? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. What else do you use besides borax? 

Answer. We never use anything but salt. I never have had any 
experience except with salt and borax. 

The Chairman. And that does the work to your satisfaction? 

Answer. We never have any trouble. 

The Chairman. And to the satisfaction of your customers? 

Answer. Yes, sir. My agent from Bristol is here now. You might 
have a talk with him if you like. He just came in town this morn- 
ing. He could tell you as to how the meat turns out over there and 
what they do with this meat after it gets over there as to the borax. 
I could have him come over if you would like to talk with him. 

The Chairman. You understand that tlie general trade is engaged 
in the same work? 

Answer. I know they are. Nobody else thinks of doing this busi- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 255 

ness in any other way. There is no dealer or pacli;er that does not 
do the business in the same way. 

The Chairman. How much is shipped out of this country? 

Answer. There is an enormous amount; I don't know how much; I 
should say about a train load every day. 

The Chairman. You would not undertake to make it satisfactory 
to the customer without the use of borax? 

Answer. No, sir. I know if I had an order — in making' a ship- 
ment to-day, if I shipped out fifty boxes of meat to-day and I should 
pack it in salt, I would have it refused on me, and I would have to pay 
my draft and take care of my meat over there at a big loss. I would 
have just the experience that I spoke to you about the other day. 

STATEMENT OF WALTER H. ALLPORT. 

Walter H. Allport, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Direct examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. Will j^ou give your full name, your profession, and 
your residence? 

Answer. Walter H. Allport; physician and surgeon ; 85 Rush street, 
Chicago. 

The Chairman. State briefly. Doctor, j'Our training for your pro- 
fession and your experience for the past 

Answer. I was educated at the University of Michigan and at the 
Chicago Medical College. 1 was house surgeon at the Cook County 
Hospital for a year and a half. I was then resident surgeon for the 
Northern Pacific Railroad in their hospital for two years. I was then 
surgeon to the Illinois Central Railroad, assistant attending surgeon, 
and have been such for the last nine years. During that time I was 
also surgeon to the World's Fair for three years; surgeon for two years 
to the Cook County Hospital of this city; I have been attending sur- 
geon at St. Luke's Hospital for eight j'ears; taught anatomy at North- 
western University for five years. I am at present assistant superin- 
tending surgeon to the Illinois Central Railroad and surgeon at St. 
Luke's Hospital. 

The Chairman. In the meantime you have carried on a very exten- 
sive practice in medicine? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And have made this subject of food for the human, 
stomach a study, as every physician has made? 

Answer. I have made the study of antiseptics a particular study. 

The Chairman. This committee is investigating, to report to the 
Senate of the United States, what of the prepared foods are deleteri- 
ous to public health; and there seems to be some little conflict of 
opinion as to the use of certain antiseptics. I would like to inquire, 
first, as to your opinion as to the use of borax. 

Answer. I consider borax and boric acid identical in their antisep- 
tic effect. Boric acid is the pure acid. Borax is a salt of boracic acid. 
Borax is made b}' the addition of boracic acid or boric acid to carbon- 
ate of soda, the supposition being, of course, that both ingredients 
are pure; and what I will say will be based entirely on the chemically 
I)ure character of either borax or boracic acid and the carbonate of 
soda, from which the borax is made. Borax is made by the addition 
of chemically pure boracic acid, in the proportion of about lOOparts to 
120 or 130 parts of inwe carbonate of soda. The carbonate of soda is 
dissolved and the boracic acid added to it; it then slowly crystallizes 



256 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and we get the large crystalline compound known as borax. This borax 
is used either in the crystalline form in the manufacture of certain 
alkaline products — it has a mild alkaline reaction and is used in the 
manufacture of soaps. It is used in the preparation of milk, some- 
times in order to preserve it, and its use is allowed by some of the 
governments of the world, notably the Governments of Sweden and 
Norway and Denmark. 

It is used also in medical practice, in eyewashes, in mouth washes, 
in washes for the stomach, in washes for the bladder, for the vagina, 
and for the rectum. In other words, it is used Avherever we wish a 
mild alkaline or antiacid wash, the chief featui'es of it being its mild- 
ness and its alkalinity and the fact that when used in large quantities 
it has no appreciable resiilt on the sj'stem, except to render it some- 
what more alkaline. The value of a soda salt, considered as a soda 
salt — and I would class among those soda salts the bicarbonate of soda, 
the chloride of sodium, the biborate of sodium, the bromide of sodium, 
the iodide of sodium, and, possibly, some other soda salts that I have 
not classified or enumerated — lies in the fact that soda is a normal 
ingredient in the alkaline blood, a normal ingredient in the system. 
It is present in the blood, which is mildl}^ alkaline in reaction. It is 
present in the urine, which is mildly acid or neutral in reaction. In 
fact, it is i^resent in nearly all the secretions of the body. 

Soda, therefore, used in moderate quantities, is preferable where 
we wish mild salts; and I would say, as an illustration of that general 
statement, that phj^sicians, when they wish to give a mild bromide, 
give a bromide of soda in preference to a bromide of potash. Where 
the}^ wish to give a mild iodide, for its alterative effect, they give the 
iodide of soda in preference to the iodide of potash. By that I will 
call your attention to the mild character of all soda salts, and I think 
that rule holds good through the domain of chemistry; that is, that 
soda is a normal ingredient of the body. Potash acts, when it does 
act, as a violent alkali, and decomposes the blood corpuscles, so we 
may tell the patient who has been taking some salt of potash — and I 
would enumerate among the salts of potash as used in the preparation 
of foods j)articnlarly the bicarbonate of potash, which is used as an 
alkali; the nitrate of potash, which is used as a normal, recognized 
preservative ingredient in the preparation of hams, and bacons, and 
other 

The Chairman. Saltpeter? 

Answer. Yes, sir; saltpeter, or nitrate of potash. That, salt for 
salt and weight for weight, the soda salts of the various acids, the 
iodide of soda, the iodide of potash, the bromide of soda, the bromide 
of potash, the carbonate and bicarbonate of soda, and the carbonate 
and bicarbonate of potash — that the soda salts are three or four parts 
more harmless. That is, the normal dose of bromide of soda is, say, 
40 grains; the normal dose of bromide of potash is 10 grains; and so 
it goes on through the domain of chemistry. 

The soda salts, then, I consider more harmless — in fact, in the 
majority of cases, almost entirely harmless, except when used in very 
extensive doses, because the soda contained in them is a normal ingre- 
dient in the blood. 

Now, I say that applies particularly to the use of borax. We have 
no biborate <jf potash that I am familiar with, and the reason is this, 
perhaps explaining the whole thing in a nut shell: Boric acid is an 
exceedingly mild acid, one of the mildest acids that there is known. 
It unites with very few alkalies. We have no biborate ol" ammonia. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 257 

no biborate of potasli, because the boracic acid is not strong enough 
to unite with the ijotasli. It is, however, strong enough to unite with 
the mild soda; so, therefore, we have biborate of soda, and that is 
nearly the only salt of boric acid, because of the mildness of the boric 
acid. 

Considering that borax is a salt simply of boric acid, and that it 
depends for its virtue not on any unknown or undeveloped property 
but on the property of the carbonate of soda on the one hand and on 
the boric acid on the other hand, and that it can develop no new 
properties excejjt such as come from the alkalinity which it derived 
from the carbonate of soda, I say that borax may be considered as 
identical in its chemical effect, and its effect on the system, with the 
boric acid itself. 

So that brings us to the discussion of the properties of the boric 
acid, and I think fairlj^ and logically, since the only difference between 
the two lies in the mild alkalinity of the borax and the mild acidity 
of the boric acid. 

Boric acid possesses antiseptic properties, and is somewhat acid in 
its reaction. It does not, in my opinion, retard digestion, for the rea- 
son that substances whose products are purely antiseptic or disinfect- 
ant and which do not possess any corrosive action, as a rule, aid 
digestion, because they destroy the usual deterrents of digestion — 
bacteria. Any substance Mdiich would limit bacterial growth increases 
the digestive properties of the gastric and intestinal juices, and so, in 
many forms of acid dyspepsia, boric acid is given in large doses, from 
5 to 10 grains. And I would draw your attention particularly to the 
fact that boric acid can be given in 5 or 10 grain doses. 

The nitrate of potash — which is not considered harmful — which is 
used constantly in the preparation of foods, can only be given in from 
2 to 4 grain doses; so that you maj^ give safely 10 grains of boric acid, 
while you may give safely only from 2 to 4 grains of the nitrate of 
potash, the latter being recognized as a proper and usual disinfectant. 
When boric acid is taken into the system, as almost all of these drugs 
are eventually, it circulates as boric acid — that is, it passes through 
the blood, rendering it mildly antiseptic, yet not, however, interfering 
with any bacteria residing there. It is eliminated through the kid- 
neys as boric acid also, and we get its principal value in surgery as a 
disinfectant of the bladder — that is, where administered internally. 
I have given from 5 to 10 grain doses eight or ten times a daj^ or as 
often as appeared to be necessary, in cases of cystitis — that is, inflam- 
mation of the bladder — and have had from this no result except to 
render the urine mildly acid from the presence of the boric acid. No 
harmful results, although I administered during a day's time from 1 
to 2 teaspoonfuls of the acid. That I consider a demonstration of 
the harmless character of boracic acid. 

In other cases it is used as a wash for the vagina, a disinfectant 
again ; also as a wash for the uterus. The crucial test, I consider, 
of the harmless character of this antiseptic lies in this, that we may 
wash out the peritoneal cavity, in case of peritonitis, with a saturated 
solution of boric acid. We may wash out the pleural cavity, in cases 
of pleurisy, again, with a saturated solution of boric acid. We may 
wash out the bladder with the same. We may wash out the stomach 
with the same, the vagina and the stomach with the same, and with- 
out fear of serious consequences; and we may leave as much in any 
of these organs or tissues as seems to be necessary for its antiseptic 
values. That is to say, its properties seem to be purely antisei)tic. 
F p -17 



258 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTy. 

There is no casfe definiteh' known to me in which boric acid has pro- 
duced poisonous results. I Ivnow that cases liave been recorded wliere 
large quantities of boric acid have been used; but I have not met in 
my own jpractice, nor within my own immediate range of observation, 
any cases of poisoning by boric acid. 

In operative surgery the acid is used on wounds in, T ma}" say, enor- 
mous quantities. In the hospital where I work — and in other hospi- 
tals also, because our practice is not unusual in that regard — we use 
a large box made of glass, such as is used by housekeepers and cooks 
in sifting flour; an ordinary flour or sugar sifter, with large oiDenings; 
and after a wound has been made and stitched up again, it is covered 
with quite an amount of the boric acid, in some cases as much as half 
an ounce being used on a large wound. A dressing is then applied 
and the patient is put to bed. Sometimes the dressing stays on from 
six to fifteen days without being disturbed. The wound is then 
dressed, and the skin is found absolutely unirritated — and I would 
lay particular stress on that. The boric acid is dry and caked on the 
surface, is unchanged in its chemical quality, except that it has taken 
up some of the secretions and has done nothing except to render the 
wound aseptic and aided in its healing. 

In extensive burns — and I think it is of value for you to know this — 
since a burned surface absorbs large quantities of harmful drugs — 
that is, morphine, cocaine, atropine, iodoform (and I say particularl}' 
iodoform) dusted on the burned surface absorbs witli remarkable 
rapidit}^ — boric acid dusted on a burned surface has absolutely no 
effect on the system. It produces nothing but the cessation of germ 
life in the wound. What I say may seem somewhat ex parte. I am 
an advocate of boric acid. I believe in it. I have tried every anti- 
septic known to me — iodoform, carbolic acid, lysol, creolin, corrosive 
sublimate, bismuth, iodol, and aristol — and I know absolutely of no 
medicament that is so harmless, so productive of benefit, to the sys- 
tem by the extirpation of germ life as boric acid. 

The Chairman. What is your opinion as to the use of boric acid for 
putting over pork after it has been cured, or partially cured, by salt? 

Answer. Do you refer to the placing of it on the outside of the meat? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Answer. I would say there should be absolutely no opposition to 
the use of boric acid in that way. It is tasteless and harmless. 

The Chairman. I think that is all, Doctor. 

The Witness. I would like to add this further 

The Chairman. Yes; if you have anything further to suggest, you 
may do so. 

The Witness. In the course of my investigations I have found one 
or two facts which, I think, may be of interest and of use to j^ou. 

The Chairman. We will be very glad if you will give them. 

The Witness. The ordinary saturated solution of boric acid is 2| 
per cent. That is, if we add a teaspoonful of boric acid, or rather 
three teaspoonfuls of boric acid, to a pint of water, we get a saturated 
solution, and in that form it is used in the form of a bladder wash, a 
wash for the stomach, the rectum, the vagina, etc. It is very prob- 
able that when it is used in these cases a good deal of it is absorbed. 
I should say, perhaps, if we give a jjatient an enema of boric acid of 
a pint, possibly the patient might take up a teaspoonful — that is, a 
dram — of the medicament.' I have never seen any harmful results. 
The benefit, I think, which would come from the use of boric acid, in 
opposition to other antiseptics, lies in the fact that it disappears 
almost entirely when the substance is treated with water. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 259 

Let us take, for instance, butter. The ordinarj' cook washes her 
butter before she uses it. If she does not, she shoukl. The boric 
acid used in the j)reparation of butter — and I understand it is used 
in the preparation of butter as shipped from some countries into Great 
Britain — some butters containing 1^ per cent of boric acid. Grant that 
tliere may be some mildly deleterious properties to the acid — which I 
don't grant except for the sake of the subsequent demonstration — 
boric acid can be absohilely removed from the butter bj' means of 
careful washing; so that is an advantage. The treatment of hams 
and meats in the same way, I think, is proper, since boric acid again, 
by washing the substance, can be dissolved and removed entirelj^, 
even though it may have been for a long time in contact witli the 
meat or substance. So I sa}^ that its solubility, as compared with 
other drugs — salicylic acid, which is permitted, I believe, by law to be 
used in the preparation of certain foods, and Hot permitted in the 
preparation of others. It is very insoluble. Granted that salicylic 
acid is injected into the butter or meats; once resting there, it can 
not be washed away or taken out or dissolved in the w^ater which is 
used to wash the substance with. The same is true of formaline — 
and I maj" say this, that as between formaline 

The Chairman. Formaline";' 

The Witness. Yes. Has that come before your committee yet? 

The Chairman. I think we had it mentioned bj^ some of the scien- 
tific gentlemen. Is it a product of wood alcohols 

Answer. Yes, sir; it is made b}^ the action of some acid on wood 
alcohol. With a thought I could state exactly how it is made, but it is 
made from wood alcohol anyway, and it is used in treating meats and 
bodies. I have, in my work in anatomy, used bodies injected with 
formaline, and this I would call youT attention to. I injected a body 
some time ago with one-fourth solution of formaline. That is, it 
comes in liquid form, known commercially as formaldehyde or forma- 
lose, it being a solution of formic acid. I injected this bod}^ with a 
one-fourth solution in water of the formaline itself. Within twenty- 
four hours the body was absolutely rigid, as hard as a board. You 
could strike it and it would give out a note such as you get from a 
hard body. 

On cutting into the body and removing the skin, the muscles were 
found absolutely stiff, so stiff that you could take a long muscle, such 
as — the biceps I suppose you are more familiar with — you could take 
hold of one end and hold it up in your hand, and the other end would 
stick out like that [indicating a straight line]. The vapor of forma- 
line is verj^ irritating. When it gets into the nose or mouth or throat 
it causes sneezing, and it causes intense conjunctivitis wiien it gets 
into the eyes. I don't think a preparation of formaline could be made 
so mild as to be harmless in the preparation of foods. It has been 
said that the vapor of formaline applied to meats would render them 
so that they could be marketed. I will state some experiments which 
we made with formaline, which may be of interest to you. 

We found that by vaporizing formaline — that is, by burning it in a 
dish, or atomizing it — it would penetrate through 4 or 5 inches of 
ordinary cloth stacked up in piles — that is, a pile of shirts or a pile 
of undershirts. Some clothing had been j)ut into a car and sent South 
for the purpose of being retailed. The car came in contact with 
3' ellow fever and was sent up here to be fumigated. It was disinfected 
witli formaline. We found that for a depth of 4 or 5 inches the 
formaline vapor penetrated that cloth. The same propertj^ would 



260 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

exist ill treating meats and in treating various food, products; we get 
the formaline penetrating the food or wliatever we wish to disinfect. 

It would render it absolutely distasteful to the individual. Not 
only distasteful, but I think it would render it very difficult of 
digestion. So that I say I do not consider that formaline in quan- 
tities sufficient to render it disinfectant would be harmless. I don't 
think it should be used on products intended for use as food. I 
would sa.y the same in regard to many other disinfectants or antisep- 
tics. One is the treatment of meat b}^ sulphur vajior. We get the 
sulphur combining on the outside of the meat to form suljihides, and 
you get a hard cake on the outside of the meat from treatment with 
sulphur. That does not penetrate. It has been said that sulphur 
vapor on that account is not of value, since it does not penetrate. As 
between formaline, salacylic acid, carbolic acid, corrosive sublimate, 
and boracic acid, I should say the treatment by sulphur was next in 
value to the treatment by means of boric acid ; but I consider that boric 
acid, even injected- — in embalming the body of a sheep or cow with 
boric acid injected into the arteries — would be safe as compared with 
any other method of embalming or preserving of meat, and considering 
the fact that it can be washed out and that it does not form any chemi- 
cal product with the acids or alkalies of the tissues — it comes away 
unchanged — that it would be safe to use. 

The Chairman. What would you say as to a comparison between 
borax or boric acid and common salt? Which would you say is of the 
greater value? 

Answer. Of the greater value as a disinfectant? 

The Chairman. No; as a meat preservative, the least harmful. 

Answer. Well, I should say, Senator, they stood side by side. It is 
a fact that the administration of any large quantity of an alkaline salt 
is harmful to the system, and we get the same evidences of harm in 
the exhibition of large quantities of cqinmon salt that we would from 
any other mild alkali — that is, we observe the well-known scurvy, which 
comes to individuals from eating salt meat. We would not see scurvy 
any quicker if we ate borated meat, and the probability is that we 
would notice it a good deal less rapidly — that is, I consider, weight for 
weight and quantity for quantity and use for use, it is more than 
equivalent to common salt. 

The Chairman. We also have refrigerating processes. Is that 
entirely free from danger, so far as you know? 

Answer. Refrigerating processes? 

The Chairman. Yes. Is that free, do you think, from a,ny danger, 
any more free than this process which has been described? 

Answer. Why, that would lead me a little outside of mj^ knowledge 
of the preparatioQ of foods. I can say in reference to refrigerative 
processes as applied to the bodies which I have used in dissections 
that where the refrigerative process is properly applied and continu- 
ously applied the body comes out of the deadhouse — that is, out of 
the cold room — in as good condition as it goes in; but the danger lies 
constantly in a change in temperature. Granted a continuous cold — 
that is, a cold down to 32 or 33, or possibly 30 — well kept up, until 
your quarter of beef or ham, or wliatever you use, came out of the 
cold and was then distributed, I should say it was a good pi'ocess; but 
it meets with this objection, that you must consume the meat as soon 
as it is removed. The bod}^ must be dissected. We bring our bodies 
up into the dissecting room immediately from the deadhouse. The 
students are allowed five weeks for the purpose of dissecting. At the 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 261 

end of five weeks what is left of the body is practically^ liquefied. The 
muscles run off in a kind of fat or soapy substance. They do not retain 
their identity. Now I see they treat bodies with boric acid, and the 
boric acid is used in the embalming process, in the preparation of out 
bodies; the bodies come out better, in bettei- form. The muscles are 
more natural in their shape and color and in their consistency ; and 
so I say that the borax treatment, by means of boric acid, would be 
better, since the meat can be taken a farther distance outside the refrig- 
erator and eaten more safely afterwards. The danger lies in refriger- 
atiiig that the meat should be tainted after it has been removed from 
the refrigerator. 

The Chairman. Have you any general views on this subject other 
than what you have given? I am interested from the committee's 
standpoint? 

Answer. I think I have embodied what I have to sa}^ already in 
my statement. I always have been and always sliall be a very warm 
friend of the boric acid used in my own branch of medicine, as used 
in anatomy, and used, without any great experience, in the i)reserva- 
tion of meats, since all decomposition or preservation depends upon 
the existence or nonexistence of bacterial life and the destruction of 
this bacterial life. 

The Chairman. You have no connection with any commercial 
interest, with any boracic-acid enterprise, have you? 

Answer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Your interest is from a scientific standpoint? 

Answer. I am interested in these things purely from a scientitic 
standpoint. 

The Chairman. I think that is all. Doctor. 



STATEMENT OF C. F. HANES. 

C. F. IIanes, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examined by the Chairman: 

Q. What is your name? — A. C. F. Hanes. 

Q. What is your residence? — A. Chicago. v 

Q. What is your occupation, Mr. IIanes? — A, Salesman for the 
Battle Creek Health Food Company. 

The Chairman. Mr. Hanes, I have called you as a witness. This 
committee is investigating with a view of getting all the evidence 
we can upon the question of pure foods, and we are to find out what 
is deleterious to health and what goods are sold fraudulentl}^ and 
what are simplj' frauds upon the people and what are deleterious to 
health. I knew, through acquaintances, that jou had a specialty in 
the way of pure foods. I do not know that it can be used in the 
matter of drafting a law, but I would like to liave j^ou give your ideas 
to the committee ujion the question of pure foods, either from a legal 
standpoint or from an ethical and moral or physical standpoint, and 
we can see what we can do with your evidence after we have heard it. 

Answer. The Sanitarian Health Food Companj- makes a peculiar 
line of foods, differently, possibly, than most of the manufacturers of 
foods in this country, and they are called health foods for the reason 
that the}^ aid digestion and are partially digested. Probably that is 
the main difference between our foods and the ordinary class of foods, 
that they are made so that thej' can be easily- digested. And all our 



262 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

goods, put lip in j)ackages, are ready for immediate use without under- 
going any process of cooking. 

Q. Are all your foods ready cooked? — A. All of our foods are ready 
cooked, ready for immediate use, with the exception, possibly, of one 
or two; but the majority of them are cooked. In fact, all of them are 
put up and are ready for immediate use. We have one food particu- 
larly, made from wheat — granose biscuit — which has undergone a 
thorough cooking, and then it undergoes a process of manufacture that 
rolls out the wheat into a small kernel, so that it is absorbed almost 
immediately into the blood. [The witness here produced a sample of 
granose biscuit.] Each one of these little flakes is a kernel of wheat 
already cooked. The starch is converted into dextrine. Another 
point is that the Battle Creek health foods are made especially for 
the class of people that you would call dyspeptics, people who can not 
digest ordinary foods in the ordinary method. These are veiy easily 
digested. 

Q, Is that the whole wheat kernel? — A. Yes; just as it comes from 
the thrashing machine, with the outer hull taken off. It has under- 
gone a cooking and a toasting process. It is twice cooked. 

Q. Is that the company of which Dr. Kellogg is president? — A. 
Yes, sir; he is the inventor of these foods. 

Q. And he has personal knowledge and supervision of their manu- 
facture? — A. Yes, sir. Everything that goes out is one of his inven- 
tions. He has quite a large library there on hj-gienic foods. 

Q. Do you use any antiseptics at all or any preservatives? — A. No, 
sir; not that I know of. 

Q. No formaldehyde or boric or salicylic acid? — A. No, sir; not 
that I am aware of. 

Q. It preserves itself, does it? — A. It preserves itself. This food 
[referring to a sample of grauolaj is made from a combination of 
grains of wheat, corn, and oats. 

Q. Let me ask you another question. I see this is marked as a 
mixture of wheat and other choice grains. Do you on every pack- 
age that you send out mark the contents as they are? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. That is the intention? — A. That is the intention. I think every 
one of our packages is marked just what it contains. That food 
(granola) is different from this (granose). This (granose) is manu- 
factured by a process that is entirely different. 

Q. How do you keep each flake separate? They are rolled instead 
of ground? — A. It is a patent process which Dr. Kellogg got up him- 
self of rolling the wheat berry out into a flake. 

Q. Have you any of these flakes that are not cooked into biscuit? — 
A. I have not anj^; no. We do not put any out. We have the same 
thing loose instead of 

Q. That is what I mean. — A. The same thing loose. I did not bring 
a package of that down. It is the same thing, only not put up in bis- 
cuit form. It is already cooked, a granose flake. 

Q. Do you prepare any meats at all? — A. No, sir. No meats except 
nut meats. We have a line of nut foods which is rather new to the 
market, and possiblj- you might be interested in those. 

Q. What are those nut meats made of? — A. Usually a combination 
of different nuts. We have a combination also of nuts, cereals, and 
fruits, combined into one food, which Dr. Kellogg claims is a perfect 
food; that is, it has all the elements in it to sustain life. [The witness 
here produced a sample of the food referred to.] That food there 
[referring to same] with water would be sufficient for any individual 



ADULTERATION OV FOOD PRODUCTS. 263 

to live on and live well, as it has all the elements of nutrition and in 
tne right proportion. Bromose [referring to a sample]. That is com- 
posed of figs, a combination of different nuts, and the gluten of wheat. 
We also make them in different flavors. Possibly some people would 
not like the fig flavor or taste in it. It absorbs immediately into the 
blood. It is a predigested food. 

Q. What kind of nuts do you use? — A. We use the peanut to a 
great extent and the almond. I understand, though, that they use 
the filbert and hazelnut considerably. We also use the cocoanut to 
some extent. We have other cocoaniit preparations, of which I have 
not a sample here, in which cocoanut predominates. This [referring 
to another sample] is an entirely different product again of the nut 
foods, and it is what Dr. Kellogg designates as a substitute for meat. 
He has tried to get a food which would taste similar to meat. 

Q. There is no animal oil in it at all? — A. No animal fats contained 
in any of our foods. It is a vegetable fat. 

Q. This is a substitute for meat and is A. Made from a com- 
bination of nuts. Just in what proportion he makes it I do not know. 

Q. Does all this oily and meaty taste come from the nut? — A. Yes. 
There is not a particle of animal fat in it. We have something like 
thirty-five different lines of foods. It is on account of people's tastes. 
Some people like one kind and some like another. 

Q. These foods that are prepared under the direction of Dr. Kel- 
logg are not only easily assimilated, but they are nutritious? — A. 
Yes, sir; the highest degree of nutriment. The Doctor contends that 
nuts have a higher degree of vegetable fat than any of the other 
foods. I brought along another sample here, just lately out from 
the laboratory. It is baked beans. It is not pork and beans. We 
taboo the hog entirelj^ down there, but we put the proteose in it. I 
don't know whether the committee would be interested in that or not. 
This is pork and beans without the pork. That little piece in there 
is proteose, only it is baked in with the beans. It gives the bean a 
nutty flavor. There is a full line of crackers and biscuits made that 
I did not mention when I was on the subject of the bakerj^ goods, in 
which we do not use any baking powder, soda, or lard in the manu- 
facture. 

Mr. Knight. Do you use butter? 

Answer. We use nut butter. We use no animal fats. I have a 
sample of nut butter there. Probably the committee would like to 
see it. 

The Chairman. You use no animal fat? 

Answer. No animal fats whatever. We used to season our goods 
with dairy butter, but the last two years we have quit using the dairy 
butter. [The witness produced a sample of nut butter.] That is 
nut butter. That is made from peanuts. We roast the peanuts, and 
we have a mill that grinds them up fine. 

Mr, Knight. Do you find any objection to the color of that? 

Answer. That is the natural color after the peanut is roasted. Anj^- 
one can make it himself at home. They can get the peanuts and 
grind them up. The company is putting up a small mill for the bene- 
fit of people who want to make their own nut butter. 

The Chairman. You use no preservative and no antiseptics? 

Answer. No preservatives and no antiseptics whatever in an}^ of 
our food. Dr. Kellogg is so particular about putting anything in to 
adulterate food that he does not even put salt in this biscuit. By 
eating a little salt it may make it a little more palatable. It is simply 



264 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

the wheat beriy that is cooked. There is no salt in it. He does not 
even put salt in it to preserve it. 

Q. It is practically as though you had gone into the field and 
gleaned the Avheat and eaten it with the rough shell off? — A. Precisely. 
There is one other cereal, which is everybody's food, already prepared, 
which is called crystal wheat. It does not undergo quite the process 
of manufacture of this granola. It is already cooked, and all that is 
necessary is to put it in hot water for a minute, which softens it up 
so that it is then ready for the milk or cream or fruit juice. 

Q. There is nothing in that except i^ure winter wheat? — A. No, sir; 
j)ure winter wheat. 

Q. Is it cooked in tiie process of grinding or before? — A. It is cooked 
before and afterwards, as I understand. The same way with this 
granose biscuit. It is cooked before — the whole wheat is cooked, 
steam cooked— and then it is run through this machine, that pares it 
off into flakes, and then it is put into ovens and baked. 

STATEMENT OF FERNAND HENROTIN. 

Fern AND Henrotin, being dulj^ sworn, testified as follows : 
Direct examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. State your name, profession, and residence. 

Answer. Fernand Henrotin ; residence, 353 La Salle avenue; physi- 
cian. 

The Chairman. Doctor, this committee is working under instruc- 
tions from the United States Senate, taking evidence on the question 
of what foods are being sold in fraud an^ what foods are being sold 
that are deleterious to public health. In the matter of the preserva- 
tion of foods, from milk to canned goods and beer and meat, we 
have found by the examination of a good many scientific men in your 
profession that large amounts of antiseptics were being used of dif- 
ferent kinds, such as salicylic acid, borax, formaldehyde, and salt- 
I)eter. I wanted to direct your attention for a few moments this after- 
noon, and get youi' opinion generall}^ as to the use of antiseptics, and 
wliether it is a jDracticable thing, in your opinion, to get along with- 
out them. 

The Witness. Do you want me to give my general observation of 
the use of antiseptics? 

The Chairman. Yes, Doctor; in your own way, please. 

The Witness. And their deleterious effect upon luiman health? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

The Witness. I don't know as I am competent to give an opinion 
upon the use of all antiseptics — in fact, I know I am not. I am in a 
position, from long usage, to give an opinion upon the use of certain 
antiseptics and preservative substances, and I have been informed 
that the committee desired my views upon the use of boracic or boric 
acid and borax as a preservative and an antiseptic. 

The Chairman. Yes; we do. 

The Witness. And I have had many years' experience in the use of 
boracic and boric acid and borax, both internally and externally — for 
it is absorbed when used externally to a certain extent. I believe 
myself to be competent, particularly, to speak about the use of boric 
acid. There are various oth'^r substances used as antiseptics that are 
not innocuous b}- anj^ means. Whether they are used in compounds 
or in the preparation of foods I am hardly prepared to state. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 265 

As regards the use of boric acid, I am perfectly willing to state that 
I consider the material absolutely innocuous, and able to be taken into 
tlie human economy in large and continuous and repeated doses, for 
great length of time, without a particle of harm resulting, which com- 
prehends about wliat I Ivuow, except to state that my Ivuowledge is 
based upon an experience of a great manj* years in using boric acid and 
borax, both internally, for various forms of disease, and externally, 
using it every day of my life, I think — for my profession is almost all 
confined to surgery — as surgical dressings, and applications to the 
tln'oat, and to the different cavities of the body. I have used boracic 
and boric acid in, I think, nearly all the cavities of the body. Used 
it in the large cavities, in the stomach, in the abdominal cavity, in the 
bowels, in the vagina, in the uterus, in the nasal passages, and in fact 
almost every reachable portion, and many cavities that are opened and 
closed afterwards, and never since I have used boric acid have I seen 
the least deleterious effect of it in any way, shape, or manner, and 
the same iipi^lies to borax. 

Judging from my past experience, both by its internal use, giving 
it as a remedj', partieularlj" as an antiseptic, to the intestinal tract, to 
the stomach, and from its effect upon the urinar}^ passages when it is 
eliminated, I consider borax as an article of great benefit, and also 
boracic acid, to the general country, as far as I can judge. And even 
in large quantities I have never seen one instance in which I could in 
any way trace any connection between either any irritative effect or poi- 
sonous effect whatever from the use of borax or boracic acid. 

The Chairman. How long have you been practicing. Doctor? 

Answer. I have been practicing medicine for thirty-one and one- 
half years in the city of Chicago, and have alwaj's had a great deal to 
do with hospitals, being connected in such a way that I was brought 
into constant contact with all sorts of physiological effects of drugs 
generally. 

The Chairman. What positions do you hold now, Doctor? 

Answer. I am now surgeon — what is called gynecologist — and 
abdominal surgeon at the Polyclinic, and I am also surgeon to St. 
Joseph's Hospital, and to Alexian Brothers' Hospital, and to the 
German Hospital. 

An adjournment was here taken until 10 o'clock, a m. Tuesdaj", 
June 6, 1S99. 



June 6, 1899. 
The committee met at 10.45 a. m., j^ursuant to adjournment. 
Present, the chairman. 

STATEMENT OF M. W. HENSHAW. 

M. W. Henshay\', being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

Examination by the Chairman : 
The Chairman. What is your name? 
Answer. M. W. Henshaw. 

The Chairman. Your residence and occupation? 
Answer. I live at 432 North State street. 



266 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Answer, I am a dealer in and exporter of butter. 

The Chairman. How long have you been engaged in that business? 

Answer. I have been in the butter business since 1871. 

The Chairman. This committee has been investigating questions 
touching the matter of food adulteration, to find out what foods are 
adulterated with a view simply to deceive the consumer and what are 
adulterated with deleterious substances, and antiseptics and preserva- 
tives of all kinds have been under discussion. Do you export in your 
business butter and oleomargarine both? 

Answer. Butter only. 

The Chairman. Butter only. What preservatives do you use, if 
any, besides the usual use of salt? 

Answer. Well, I have been unable so far in my experience to get 
any butter made with a preservative — that is, to any extent. I have 
been able to secure one or two factories that would do it for me. I 
did it because it was demanded by my people in England, j)roviding 
I could get it put up in that manner. 

The Chairman. Do they want a different preservative from Avhat 
is used here? 

Answer. Well, there is no preservative here in general use, except 
salt. That prevails all over the country. The English trade is 
becoming accustomed — or, rather, it has become a necessity — to use 
preservatives in their butter. The colonial butter from Australia and 
New Zealand all conies with a certain jjercentage of preservatives. 

The Chairman. All or nearly all of the French butters and nearly 
all of the Irish butters — what do they use? 

Answer. Well, these preservatives. The best of it is borax. 

The Chairman. Do they demand that from you when they make 
their orders? Do they order butter to be preserved with borax? 

Answer. Yes, sir; almost invariably. 

The Chairman. And then, in order to fill that order, you have to 
get some packer who will pack their butter in that way? 

Answer. That is it. But I haven't been successful in doing it — that 
is universally. Occasionally we would get a factory that would do it. 
They are very loth to take up anj^ new ideas on butter through the 
country. 

The Chairman. What effect would it have commerciallj^onoursale 
of butter, in your opinion, if they would preserve their butter? 

Answer. I think it would enhance the reputation of American 
butter in Great Britain 100 percent. There is no question about that 
at all. 

STATEMENT OF PROF. FRANK L. JAMES. 

Prof. Frank L. James, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

Q. What is your name? — A. Frank L. James. 

The Chairman. And your profession and location? 

Answer. I am a physician. I am editor of the National Druggist, 
in St. Louis, and have been for a number of years past. 

The Chairman. Where were j^ou educated? 

Answer. Under Liebig, in Munich, and at Carlsruhe, in the Grand 
Duchy of Baden. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 267 

The Chairman. Are 3^011 a practical chemist? 

Answer. I Avas, sir, before I liad to leave tlie profession on account 
of physical disability and also from growinj*' work in another direction. 

The Chairman. I would like to have you state in your own waj' — 
we would like j^our opinion as to the use of antiseptics and i^reserva- 
tives in meat and butter. 

Answer. The use of antiseptics in general in the way of food pre- 
servatives I havje my opinion about, rather adverse to their use; but 
some antiseptics I favor and favor very strongly. The particular one 
that I favor most is boric or boracic acid. My attention was called 
to it nearly forty years ago, while in Liebig's laboratory, as a student. 
Liebig himself had become quite interested in it, and in that way my 
own attention was drawn to it. After returning to America I used 
it whenever I could get hold of it. I was in the Confederate army, 
and whenever I had an opportunity to get hold of it there I used it 
for preserving rations, our own mess rations — milk, meats, etc. — and 
later on I had settled in Memphis, Tenn., and was practicing over 
in Arkansas, and I had occasion once to be with quite a party of 
men — sixteen white men, besides the colored drivers of the wagons — 
and we had to spend nearly five months in those swamps, and in sum- 
mer, in the Mississippi bottoms, the bottoms of Little River, and I 
used boracic acid freely as a i3reservative of fresh meat and milk, 
etc., whenever we could get them. We could get them very rarely, 
and to make them go as far as possible I used boracic acid on them. 
During those five months I hadn't a single day or hour of sickness 
mj^self, nor did I have a single man sick. There were no bowel com- 
plaints, notably, among them, a fact which I ascribe entirely to the 
constant use of boric acid. I have used it a great deal myself, per- 
sonally, for thirty years or more. I may say there is scarcely a day 
that I don't use it in some way, and owing to the howl that has been 
made against it of late in journals and among a certain class of 
chemists and scientists I very recently undertook to discover the 
source of the prejudice against it. I had long thought that the great 
Ruler and Maker of all things certainly did not make only one single 
substance that could be used as a food preservative with impunity — 
common salt — and that there must be something else just as harmless 
as it, and I believe that boric acid is that thing. 

In the course of my investigations I went back to Germany and 
France — I mean through literature, not personally — to study the Ger- 
man and French literature. Some twenty-two or twenty-three years 
ago, when the Australian trade in refrigerated meats began, violent 
attacks were made against preservatives in the French journals, some 
scientific, but mostly in secular journals of wide circulation. The 
most violent of these attacks were made by Professor Le Bon and by 
Dr. Pelligot, both of whom wrote very powerful articles against boric 
acid, and these were really the cause of the ban being placed against 
boric acid in France. Among the Germans there were some few men 
of lesser note that claimed that boric acid had an evil effect on the 
digestion, etc., but the arch enemies of it were these men Le Bon and 
Pelligot. Both of those men, by using it themselves, subsequently 
recanted all that they had said and became the strongest advocates of 
boric acid and its sodium salt, borax, as a food preservative. Le Bon 
and Pelligot afterwards gave certificates to men putting up meats by 
the use of borax (dusting them with borax) as to its being perfectly 



268 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

harmless and, in fact, beneficial ; and that lias been my own experience 
regarding the matter. 

In the course of my investigations I got some literature on the sub- 
ject, which I would like to i^resent and make a jjart of the record. 
This [producing paper] I got published in England, which was sent 
me at my request, on the subject. 

The Chairman. We will take the book. 

The Witness. Of course some of the phj^sicians claimed to have 
had bad results in giving boracic acid for long periods, but if you give 
common salt — I just noticed in the news from the Klondike yesterday 
where a part}^ of miners had been compelled to subsist on salted 
meats, and they had been simply exterminated by scurvy. We might 
urge the very same thing against common salt that its opponents do 
against borax. 

The Chairman. Your opinion is. Professor James, that the use of 
borax or boracic acid is as safe and harmless as that of common salt? 

Answer. That is my opinion, sir. Carrying the use of it bej'ond 2 
per cent might be harmful, possibly, but the chief difficulty would be 
that it would impart a bitter taste to the food. I don't believe, how- 
ever, it would be hurtful to the health of those who used it. 

The Chairman. While on the subject of antiseptics, what do you 
think about the use of salicylic acid in drinks? 

Answer. I am opposed to salicylic acid, for the reason that I have 
known in my practice as a physician of so many people who had idio- 
syncrasies that were not benefited by it, who can not tolerate it even 
in minute quantities. Besides that, when use<l to any extent it im- 
parts an unpleasant flavor to the things in which it is used to any 
extent. 

The Chairman. How is salicylic acid made? 

Answer. Well, it can either be made from the natural oil of winter- 
green or it can be made synthetically. The natural oil of wintergreen 
is an impure salicylic acid. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the 
methods used for the synthetical i3roduction of it. 

The Chairman. I think it is from carbolic acid. 

Answer. It can be made in that way, but the oil of wintergreen is 
the great source of it. It is made now sj'nthetically in the laboratories. 

The Chairman. You wish to put in also, did you, an extract from 
The Grocer of June 4? 

Answer. Yes, sir; I would like that to go in as bearing upon the 
subject. It shows that Professor Attfield, who is to-day one of the 
greatest chemists in the world, and who has been thus honored b}^ the 
International Association of Chemists; Professor Bell, and men of 
that description unhesitatingly indorse boric acid. Attfield speaks of 
it as "a harmless and most excellent preservative," in the new edition 
of his Chemistry, the seventeenth or eighteenth edition, I think. 

(Said pamphlet is attached hereto, marked Exhibit A to testimonj- of 
Frank L. James.) 

The Chairman. This pamphlet [referring to pamphlet hereto at- 
tached, marked Exhibit B to the testimony of Frank L. James], con- 
tains a report by Dr. Redwood, emeritus professor of chemistry to 
the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and reports from Pro- 
fessor Chittenden, of Yale, and the results of elaborate investigation 
by Professors Chittenden and W. J. Geis, from the Sheffield labora- 
tory of physiological chemistr3\ 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 269 

The Witness. There is one German investigation there that I would 
like to especially call attention to, because it is the very latest. 

The CHAiRiftAN. That is the report of the German association? 

Answer. No, sir; here it is [referring to same] — Dr. Kepler, who 
w^as the chemist in the German food investigation. 

The Chairman. And Dr. Liebrich also? 

Mr. Fisher (assisting the chairman). This pamphlet also contains 
the report of an investigation by the public consulting health com- 
mittee of France; a report of an investigation in Russia bj^ the sani- 
liwy town council of the city of St. Petersburg; the Chemical Ency- 
clopedia b}^ Berthelot, and others; and the testimony of Dr. Robert 
Bell, of Glasgow, and also Dr. Bond, senior surgeon to Westminster 
Hospital, of London ; Dr. Pemberton, coroner for the aity of Birming- 
ham and consulting surgeon to the General Hospital; Dr. Willington, 
of Rose Hill House, Ilandsworth, Staffordshire; Dr. James Richmond, 
medical officer of the board of health for Handsworth, England; Dr. 
Alfred Harve}^, of London; Dr. Charles Webb Iliffe, coroner of North 
Warwickshire and Coventry and surgeon to Coventry Hospital, Eng- 
land; Dr. James Hill, physician to the General Hospital, to the Sick 
and Children's Hospital, and to the Lying-in Hospital, Brisbane, 
Queensland; Dr. James J. Hues, of Handsworth, England; Dr. J. 
Yose Solomon, consulting surgeon to the Birmingham Eye Hospital 
and formerly surgeon to the Birmingham General Dispensary, in 
England; Dr. Walter Iliffe, of Kendal, England; Dr. J. Woodward 
Riley, of Shrewsbury, England; Dr. D. R. Wynter, coroner for Cen- 
tral Warwickshire, England ; Dr. Bennett May, senior surgeon to the 
Queen's Hospital and joint professor of surgery in Mason's College, 
Birmingham, England; Dr. Fred IL Maberly, of Birmingham, Eng- 
land; Dr. A. T. Holdsworth, of Handsworth, England; Dr. S. J. Darby 
Weston, of Handsworth; Dr. Martin Young, surgeon to the District 
Hospital in West Bromwich, Birmingham, England; Dr. George H. 
Hart, of Birmingham, Dr. W. Law^son, surgeon to the Tea Companies 
in Assam, and Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson and Dr. Brunton and 
Dr. Bradbury, of England; Dr. J. Steele, medical officer of health, 
Kidsbrove, England; and Dr. J. H. Ray, resident surgeon officer of 
the Royal Infirmary, Manchester, England. 

Also the report of the German association for the protection of 
their common interests in the meat and fat goods industry, of an 
investigation carried on at Cologne in 1898, the report being dated the 
25th of October, 1898, and containing the testimony of Dr. Liebreich 
and others. 

An extract from The Grocer, of England, of June 4, 1898, contain- 
ing report of a test case at Ponty-Pridd, Wales, as to the use of 
American hams cured with boracic acid, wiiich resulted in the com- 
plete justification of the American hams as against the Welsh hams 
cured with salt and saltpeter. 



Exhibit A to Testimony of Frank L. James. 

[Extract from the Grocer Leader, June 4, 1898.] 
PROVISIONS AND BORACIC ACID. 

* * * It is satisfactory to note that the Pontypridd case, by which a good 
deal of interest has been excited, has resulted in the vindication of borax and a 



270 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

rebuff— which we hope will not go iinnoted elsewhere— to the prosecuting county 
authority. This decision affects, of course, merely one case; it is the decision of 
a local inagistrate, not of a ■' superior court," and it applies simply to one set of 
circumstances in which borax was used: but the fact that expert evidence was 
adduced gives the case a wider importance and justifies, we think, the length of 
the report which appears in our law columns. The practical curing witnesses 
called gave it as their opinion very decidedly that it is not possible to produce the 
mild-cured hams now so much in public demand without the use of boracic acid. 
This being the case, it is important to know whether boracic acid is innocuous 
and how much is necessary to preserve hams. The testimony of such well-known 
medical men as Dr. Bond, of Weistminster, and Dr. Bell, of Glasgow, at once 
settled the first point, and in this they were supported by Professor Attfield, an 
eminent chemist, the editor of the British Pharmacopoeia. From these gentlemen 
we learn that 1 per cent of boracic acid, or even more, is absolutely harmless: 
that is to say, if 1 pound of boracic acid were added to and absorbed by 100 pounds 
of meat, persons consuming that meat would not sustain the slightest injury. 
Indeed, Dr Bell, after twenty-five years' experience of the use of boracic acid in 
food, &aid that ham cured with it was far more digestible than ham cured with 
salt and saltpeter, or nitrate of potash, as he preferred to describe the latter. The 
innocuousness having been established, a practical bacon curer with more than 
thirty years" experience explained that he found from one-fourth to 1 pound of 
boracic acid was necessary to preserve hams, the amount varying according to 
climatic conditions, the heat of the meat, and the length of time it would have to 
be kept: and in this he was supported by Mr. Douglas, a gentleman of great 
knowledge in regard to bacon curing all over the world. The Glamorganshire 
county council prosecution rested on the evidence of two witnesses whom it would 
be absurd to contrast with those for the defense, and the result— that the sum- 
mons was dismissed with costs against the county— was inevitable. Such a result 
is highly satisfactory so far as it goes, and we can but hope that very shortly its 
lessons may be more widely applied in a way to save the trade from unnecessarj' 
harassment and the public from improper interference with their food supply. 

1 REPORT OF THE CASE. 

Boracic acid in ham: The test case at Pontypridd.— AX Pontypridd police court, 
on Wednesdav, Enoch J. Rees. grocer, Gelley road, Ystrad, was charged under 
section 6 of tlie food and drugs act, 1875, with selling ham containing 0.6 per cent 
of boracic acid. Mr. Allen appeared to prosecute on behalf of the Glamorganshire 
county council; Mr. Abel Thomas, Q. C, M. P., defended, being instructed by 
Mr. George David (Cardiff) and Mr. Arthur J. Giles. The case had already been 
before the bench, and had been adjourned in order that a sample of the ham might 
be analyzed bv the Somerset House authorities. A slight discrepancy appeared 
between the two certificates, and counsel asked which certificate would be dealt 
with, that of Somerset House or that of the county analyst. 

The stipendiary said that of the county analyst would be recognized. He added 
that if there was' any material difference they might adjourn the case. 

Mr. Allen said he was quite willing to do that. The difference was between 0.6 
and 0.8 per cent, the former being the county analyst's report and the latter that 
of- the Somerset House authorities. This was a serious difference. 

The stipendiary said he did not know that it would make much difference. 

Mr. Allen said he could not see what good the Somerset House analysis was 
unless it was to be acted upon. What was the object of sending to Somerset 
House at all? 

The Stipendiary. 

Why does not the act follow the process, and make it evidence? 

Mr. Allen said that the act was bad as it was, and it ought to be amended. 

The stipendiary said that the point was that the article purchased must be of 
the nature, substance, and quality of the article demanded. There could be no 
hesitation in saying that the ham was mixed with boracic acid, and he did not 
suppose that the defense would consider in that sense that the purchaser had got 
an article of the nature, substance, and quality demanded; but their case rested 
on their proving that the boracic acid was not injurious to health. 

Superintendent Coles said that on March 15 he purchased a sample of ham from 
the defendant, which weighed If pounds, for which he paid lO^d. 

On cross-examination witness said he was told that the piece of ham given him 
was what was known as "American cut.'" He preferred the mild cured, but did 
not know to what process mild-cured ham was subjected. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 271 

Mr. Alfred Loughton. bacon curer. carrying on business at Llandaff, was then 
called. 

Mr. Allen. Do you think it is necessary for the purpose of preparing a ham 
for the market, as an article of commerce, to use boracic acidV 

Answer, I think it is not necessary. 

Witness went on to say that it was quite possible to make mild-cured ham 
without boracic acid. He did not use it in curing his hams. He had tried boracic 
acid. 

(^. Did you find it a successful substitute for the ordinary process of curing? — 
A. Not for my class of business. 

Q. Is it cheaper than your method of doing it? — A. No: it is not so cheap. 

Q." Then, may I take it that ham cured in what I call the old-fashioned way, 
with salt and with saltpeter and sugar, will actually keep longer than one of these 
boracic acid mild-cured hams? — A. Yes; mine are cured to keep. These are not; 
they are for quick consumption. 

The stipendiary said that the contention appeared to be that the boracic acid 
was both desirable and necessary for a mild class of ham which was not intended 
to keep. If that was so. surely Mr. Allen would not object, if it did nobody any 
harm, 

Mr. Allen said that he did not wish to unduly elaborate points, but the bench 
had it from witness that ham might be cured merely by the old process. 

The Stipendiary, Possibly; but if other people say this is a better method, suits 
the trade they are engaged in, and does nobody a particle of harm, you would not 
object? The whole question comes around the same point: Is this process inju- 
rious? It is for them to prove it is not. 

Mr. Abel Thomas said that ]Mr. Allen must prove that the article sold was to 
the prejudice of the purchaser. 

The stipendiarj' considered that boracic acid was not of the nature, substance, 
and quality of the article demanded. 

Mr. Abel Thomas, No more is salt. 

The Stipendiary. But salt is to a certain extent protected. 

Witness (continuing) said that mild-cured bacon without the use of boracic acid 
would not be the same as if it were borax cured. It would be comparatively mild, 
but not^as mild as the borax or "patent" cured, 

Mr. Allen. Do you not consider that, for curing hams, salt is quite as effective? 

Answer. What we consider is, '• what is most salable." 

Q. And you find you can put a salable article on the market without boracic 
acid? — A. That constitutes»my experience. 

The Stipendiary, He sells Welsh hams. 

Witness said that an expert could say at once when boracic- acid hams were 
cooked. 

Cross-examined: 

Witness said that a Welsh-cured ham was well known in that district. It 
fetched one of the best prices. 

Mr. Thomas. Would the price be more than 6d. a pound?— A, Yes; it is 9d. 

Q. With regard to curing, do you use saltpeter? — A. Yes: it is possible to cure 
hams with saltpeter or with salt alone. 

Witness added that he had never cured hams with siigar. 

The Stipendiary. Boracic acid is absolutely tasteless, is it not? — A. Yes. 

Mr. Abel Thomas. In your business, I suppose when yoii tried boracic acid you 
found your purchasers did not like it so well as they did the old Welsh cured? 

Answer. Qiiite so. 

Q, Do you see any objection to the use of boracic acid except the taste of your 
customers? — A, I have read a lot of evidence as to this. The only objection I see 
is from a medical point of view. 

Q, And of course you do not know whether it is harmful or not? — A. Neither 
the one way nor the other. 

The stipendiary said it had been proved boracic acid was in the ham, and prac- 
tically the duty fell upon the defense of proving that it was noninjurious. The 
prosecution had proved to his satisfaction that the ham bought contained a 
"foreign " substance, and the bench must assume it to be injurious till the con- 
trary was proved. 

Mr. Allen reserved his right to call Dr. Williams, and closed his case, 

Mr. Abel Thomas then addressed the bench for the defense. He said that salt- 
peter was to ham as foreign a substance in every sense of the term as boracic acid, 
Boracic acid had only been used for the last eighteen or twenty years, whilst salt, 



272 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

sugar, and saltpeter had probably been used for many generations. But there 
was no such thing as ham in the sense that they could expect to find something 
without a foreign ingredient; there could be no ham without such ingredient, as 
there must be something in the nature of a preservative — of late years they had 
come to use boracic acid. Now, if the onus lay upon Mr. Allen of proving that 
the ham v\^as sold to the prejudice of the purchaser, he must show, too, that there 
was something wrong in the mode of preserving the ham bj' means of boracic 
acid. The bench, in calling upon him to prove that the use of boracic acid was 
not injurious to health, were asking him to do something which was necessary 
under section 6 of the act. Mr. Allen should have proceeded under section 3 if 
he wanted to rely i^pon boi'acic acid being injurious to health. 

Mr. Allen. I will certainly do it next time. 

Mr. Thomas. But Mr. Allen must have said that forgetful of the fact that ic he 
had attempted to prove his case under section 3 we should have had two defenses — 
one upon the fact that it was not injurious to health, and if that fell through we 
should have proved by section 5 that the vendor was not liable, because he did 
not know, and coiild not have known, that boracic acid was injurious to health at 
all. The bench knew that one of the aims of modern days was to try and get hams 
as mildly cured as possible. He knew that in Wales the belief still obtained with 
those who could afford the luxury that the ham used in their childhood was the 
best possible. But that was not the current tendency of the age. The demand 
was distinctly for mild-cured hams, and, as the last witness for the prosecution 
said, the only way to get inild-cured ham was by the use of boracic acid. It was 
true that boracic acid was a drug. But there Vi^as a good deal of misvmderstand- 
ing as to what that expression meant. Boracic acid was a drug, and did appear 
in the British Pharmacopteia. But so did salt and saltpeter, and pepper and mus- 
tard, and tea and coffee. These were all drugs in the same way as boracic acid. 
Then, again, saltpeter was much stronger as a drug and more dangerous than 
boracic acid. 

The Stipendiary. "When you buy ham you may say you do not buy saltpeter 
and salt — you buy ham. 

Mr. Abel Thomas. Yoit buy the leg of a pig cured by some drug of some kind, 
and it depends upon the taste of the public what kind of curing there shall be put 
upon it — what kind of drug they like. 

The Stipendiary. Plain, by long use. has come to mean a certain thing. 

Mr. Thomas. I was not aware of that. But meanwhile there is this danger. 
One generally understands by ham the leg of a pig which has been cured by some 
process. But however much boracic acid you use you must salt the ham just the 
same, and if you want a particular flavor, liowever much salt you put in. you muist 
put saltpeter into it. 

Mr. Thomas then dealt with the last part of his case, whether the boracic acid 
was dangerous or not. He said that in no case has it yet been suggested that 
boracic acid was injurious to health. The case was of vital importance to the 
whole of the country, for they knew that there were tens of thousands of tons of 
mild-cured hams and bacon used in this country at the present time. 

Dr. Thomas Bond said he was fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and a 
lecturer for forensic inedicine and senior surgeon at Westminster Hospital. He 
had for the last fifteen years used boracic acid largely both in surgical dressings 
and for internal purposes. Externally it was an extremely useful material for all 
surgical operations, and. of course, when thus used a great deal of it was absorbed 
by the system. In one extreme case he had kept a child alive in a solution of boric 
acid for a month. The child had a diseased bladder. He had used the boric acid 
internally both for hospital and private practice, and he gave the lO-grain dose 
three times and sometimes, four times a day. He had a patient who had been 
taking 30 grains a day for months. That gentleman said that he never felt better. 
He had never found any ill effect except in two cases, where there was previous 
disease, although he had given boracic acid in hundreds and hundreds of cases. 
In many hams saltpeter was used, which was a much stronger drug than boracic 
acid, it acted more definitely on the system. He would rather go on continu- 
ously with 10 grains of boracic acid than 10 grains of nitrate of potash (saltpeter). 
He thought ham cured with boracic acid would be much more easily digested than 
strong salty hams. He did not think that 0.6 per cent of boracic acid-in ham would 
be injurious. 

Cross-examined: 
He thought the nitrate of potash was by far the stronger drug. It was difficult 
to compare the two; the one had the properties of a drug and the other had not. 
He gave nitrate of potash in large quantities. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 273 

Q. Would you prohibit boracic acid entirely to a healthy person?— A. Why 
should I? Certainly not. 

Q. Would you recommend them to take it? — A. No; I should say, "Throw 
physic to the dogs." 

Dr. Robert Bell, of Glasgow, fellow of the faculty of physicians and surgeons, 
etc., said that for the last seventeen years he had been in the habit of using Ijoracic 
acid in milk and al.so in ham and bacon. The average quantity he used in milk 
was never less than (5 grains per day; frequently 10 grains in summer was con- 
sumed by individuals. He had not been able to find out that it had the slightest 
ill effect on the members of his family. They had been a remarkably healthy 
family. He had used boracic acid as a medicine very extensively. He generally 
gave 10 grains three and sometimes four times a day. He would not hesitate to 
give it up to 20 grains if necessary. 

The Stipendiary. Would you give 20 grains three or four times a day? 

Answer. I would give it without any fear of its doing any harm if the symptoms 
warranted my doing it, but, generally speaking, 10 grains three times a day answer 
every purpose. 

He had gone on for months and months giving 10 grains three times a day, and 
he had known instances where it had been kept up for years. He used the acid 
when fishing in the Western Hebrides. It was quite impossible for him to send 
salmon home unless the tish was wrapped with coverings saturated with boracic 
acid. He had done that frequently and without the slightest ill effects. Once 
decomposition had commenced, boracic acid could not undo it. 

Q. Wo there is no way in which you could conceal badly preserved ham, for 
instance, or a badly kept piece of pork hy using boracic acid on it after it has 
become affected or tainted? — A. No; it is (juite impossible. 

(r^. Is there any danger in the use of ham or bacon when it is cured by boracic 
acid? — A. In my opinion, there is not the slightest danger. 

Q. In your opinion, would 0.6 per cent be in any way injurious to health?— 
A. Not in the slightest degree. 

Q. Would it be a great loss to the trade of the country if its use were stopped? — 
A. I am certain it would. It would remove a great source of nutrition from the 
populace. I would much rather take an ounce of borax than an ounce of saltpeter. 

C^. In regard to hard, strongly salted ham and mild ham cured with boracic 
acid, which, in your opinion, is the more healthy of the two? — A. The mild cured. 
I would prohibit the use in some cases — certain forms of dyspepsia — of hard-cured 
ham altogether. I have not allowed my patients to take it. 

The witness mentioned an instance in which he used a very large quantity of 
boracic acid on a woman to remove a tumor. It saved the woman's life. 

Q. Supposing the ham was boiled, a good deal of the boracic acid would disap- 
pear in the water? — A. Yes; boracic acid is very soluble in boiling water. I knew 
a gentleman in Glasgow who never had any disease; he would consume at least 
an ounce of borax every day. 

Prof. John Attfield, fellow of the Royal Society, doctor of philosophy, for thirty- 
four years professor of practical chemistry in the Pharmaceutical Society of Great 
Britain, and editor of the British Pharinacopana for the General Medical Council, 
said he had been familiar with boracic acid in its uses and properties for more than 
forty years, and it was most certainly not injurious to health as a fo(jd preserva- 
tive. He knew that by personal experience, for, as a dyspeptic patient, he had 
taken it for many months. He had taken it in doses of 15 grains three times daily, 
and he had experimented on himself by taking a much bigger dose — SO or 90 grains. 
He could not tell at all that he had taken it: the system got rid of it with extreme 
rapidity. It did not retard digestion the slightest degree. He was well aware 
that boracic acid was used in a great many substances which were required to be 
kept for a long time, and, as far as he knew, it had not caused any injury to the 
system of the persons using it. In his opinion, 0.0 per cent of boracic acid in ham 
could not hurt anybody. Boric acid was found in many substances naturally — in 
many vegetables which were eaten by animals, in beer and in wines; beer, because 
it was in the hops, and in wine because it was contained in the vine. 

Mr. Allen. You said you used boracic acid, but you did it under proper med- 
ical advice; that, in your opinion, would be the proper way to take it? 

Answer. I am a doctor, but not a doctor of medicine, therefore I should con- 
sider it only proper to appeal to my medical advisers as to the taking of what 
would be, for the time, a drug. 

Mr. Allen. But I consider you more of a doctor than I am— or the poor devil 
who went to buy this ham? 

Answer. I would not object to the poor devil having such a ham given to him. 

F P 18 



274 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Allen. It depends on the ham. He (Mr. Allen) believed witness rather 
liked the old-fashioned ham— wasn't that so? 

Answer. Yes; I like them very much, but the point is they don't like me very 
much. 

Witness added that he had never heard of a fatal case through boracic acid. 

Dr. James Buist (Cardiff) said he had used boracic acid for some years. He 
had prescribed it in medical and surgical cases, and he had never seen any ill 
effects after it; he had seen good effects. He had used it in the case of infantile 
diarrhea, so that even to children it did good. He did not think that 0.6 per cent 
of the acid in ham could be injurious to the human system. He believed ham 
cured with boracic acid more "healthy" than one of the salt hams. Boracic 
acid ham would be better, because the digestive organs would much more likely 
be able to cope with it. 

Mr. Joseph Edwin Prosser, bacon curer, carrying on business in the North of 
England, who had been in business for about thirty years, said he had used boric- 
acid preparations for the past twenty-four years. When it came out first it was 
sold as a preservative; but for many years now he had known that the foundation 
was boracic acid. He explained the processes by means of which the ham was 
got ready. After the pigs were killed they laid them on flags and dusted them 
over with boric acid, a little saltpeter, and salt. 

Q. As a fact, can you cure a ham without salt? It would not be ham; it would 
be pork. — A. That is what I mean. I could preserve pork, but it can not be ham. 

Q. Now, first of all, is the boracic acid more expensive per pound than ham? — A. 
Well, if you speak of the English ham. then the boracic acid is a bit cheaper. If 
you speak of American ham the boracic acid would be dearer. 

Q. What effect has boracic acid on pork? — A. It preserves the pork with regard 
to the weight of the pork. When we ])ut it on we find it brings out a sort of 
fluid — we call it "purging" the ham in the trade — and the ham loses a little 
weight. 

Q. Does it lose weight if you use salt? — A. That depends what kind of ham it is. 

Q. Is it a loss or gain to you to use a larger quantity of boracic acid? — A. We 
use as little as we can, as we reckon it a dead loss to us. We would not use it at 
all if we could help it. 

Q. What governs the quantity of boracic acid you use? — A. The weather, the 
state of the meat at the time it is cured, and the distance the ham has to be sent 
away. 

Q. Is it possible to have mildly ciired ham and bacon without using boric acid? 

Witness said they might produce mild bacon with salt, but it would not keep 
only a few days. The only way they could get mild ham was by the use of boracic 
acid. From a quarter to 1 pound to 100 pounds was used. He had never heard 
in the trade that boracic acid made the ham unhealthy, and he did not believe 
it. He never found it to cause any injury that he could trace in any way. It 
was not possible to make old hams look fresh by means of boracic acid; they would 
go on putrefying. 

Q. You can only use boracic acid with success when the meat is perfectly good 
and fresh? — A. Just so; if meat once turns you can do nothing with it. Salt 
might stop putrefaction, and the more boracic acid is used the more expensive the 
ham becomes. We reckon the preservative account is the worst account we have 
on our books. It is a dead loss to us. 

Cross-examined: 

Q. Do you submit it is not possible to make mild-cured with salt and saltpeter 
without boracic acid? — A. In my opinion, saltpeter is simply put in for coloring. 
Very mild-cured hams, American, with boracic acid would keep three months 
from the time they were shipped. After that period they would begin to dull. If 
only saltpeter were used, the color would keep all right. 

Mr. Allen. It is a fact, is it not, that ail Welsh-cured ham keeps a couple of 
years? — A. Well, I believe it would keep forever. I have heard so. 

Witness said he did not know much about Welsh-cured ham. 

Mr. M. Douglas said that from his own knowledge boracic acid had been used 
as a preservative fourteen or fifteen years, and that to an enormous extent. In 
fact, with the exception of some Welsh-cured or Yorkshire-cured hams — one or 
two exceptions of that kind — boracic acid was universally used in the preparation 
of ham. They were practically familiar with it all over the world. It was not 
possible to have what was called mildly cured ham except by the use of the acid, 
and with the exception of the Glamorgan County Council he had never heard any 
objection made to the use of it. 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 275 

Q. Have you found out what percentage of boracic acid is used?— A. Yes, one- 
fourth per cent to 1 per cent. I 'have seen more used. 

Continuing, witness said that he had never found that anybody had been injured 
by taking boracic acid in ham or bacon. He would not consider 0,6 per cent or 0.8 
per cent to be an excessive proportion in the preparation, and would have no 
hesitation in recommending 1 per cent. 

Mr. Abel Thomas said that was the case for the defense. 

Mr. Allen said he could call Dr. Williams, the medical officer for the county. 

The stipendiary said that up to then, with the exception of one or two matters, 
there was no evidence to show that boracic acid was injurious. 

Dr. Williams, medical officer of health for the county of G-lamorgan, said the 
amount of boracic acid in ham put at 0.8 would be 56 grains to the pound. He 
took it that a person in ordinary health would consume 6 ounces of ham at a 
meal, and that would be equivalent to 21 grains of boracic acid. Boracic acid 
was a drug that did not enter into the human constitution, and he maintained it 
was a drug like all other drugs, and should only be given to the people who 
required it under medical advice. He had not prescribed boracic acid. It was a 
drug, and he maintained that it was wrong to give this quantity of 31 grains to 
persons without their knowledge when they were healthy. 

Q. You do not consider it a food, do you? — A. No, no. 

Q. Do you consider boracic acid is part of the ham? — A. I do not think it is. 

Mr. Abel Thomas. That is for the justices to find out. 

Witness said that he believed the effect of using boracic acid in this way with 
other doses was to produce skin eruption. He could not prove this. 

Cross-examined, witness said he knew there was a small percentage of saltpeter 
in ham. He knew it was used in curing bacon, and he admitted that it was a for- 
eign substance. His knowledge of boracic acid used internally was based on 
reading, etc. 

Q. Would you object if ham contained no more than 1 per cent? — A. I would 
prefer to have no boracic acid whatever in it. 

Q. Then, in your opinion, if there is the slightest trace of boracic acid the man 
who makes or sells the ham should be prosecuted? — A. No; I do not mean that. 
I would rather not have any boracic acid in any food at all. 

Q. But do you consider that if there is any boracic acid in ham it is adulter- 
ated? — A. I look upon it as a foreign expedient. If I ask for ham I expect to have 
ham. The usual way of preparing ham is by salting it. 

The stipendiary remarked that in this case the summons was for selling an article 
to the prejudice of the irarchaser; that was to say. selling ham which was not of 
the nature, substance, and quality of the article demanded by the inspector under 
the act. He thought they might take it that when ham was demanded boracic 
acid mixed with ham was not prima facie the article which was demanded. There 
was a good body of evidence which showed, he thought, that it was desirable to 
add boracic acid in order to make it an article of commerce, because there was a 
very considerable demand for this mild-cured ham; and that appeared to be the 
only practical way of producing the artictle which was in such request. Then the 
question arose whether in doing this the defendant had done something which was 
injurious. This case was very different from the case they had before (the boracic 
acid in butter prosecution), for there was now a great body of evidence produced 
to the court to prove that the quantity of boracic acid used in this ham was not in 
excess of that which was generally used in the trade, and there was also a great 
body of evidence to prove that the quantity which was consumed even in the 
course of a day in taking, say, 8 ounces of ham, was not in excess of that which 
a healthy individual might take. He believed there was abundant evidence 
adduced that day to prove that 0.6 or 0.8 would not be injurious. The bench were 
jointly of that opinion. Three doctors and some practical ham curers had been 
called by the defense, and the effect of the evidence was that the (luantity was well 
within the amount generally used, of which no complaint had ever been heard. 
The doctors were also called to prove not only their belief that the quantity was 
noninjurious. but they had themselves taken and administered it in very much 
larger quantities. 

They had been asked whether upon any occasion they had known it to have any 
injurious effects, and two practicing doctors had admitted that this was so upon 
one or two occasions, particularly in the case of diseased bladder and disease of 
the kidneys, which had brought on skin eruption. That was about the whole of 
the injurious effects the bench had before them that day. He (the stipendiary) 
did not suppose that if ham prepared with boracic acid was really used as an 
article of commerce, and in 999 cases out of 1,000 it did no harm, they would be 
justified in absolutely prohibiting it in consequence of its having, in two cases, 



276 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

produced mischief to the skin under the conditions described. That was the evi- 
dence before the bench. There was no attempt to combat it, except by calling the 
medical officer for the county, who was undoubtedly a distinguished officer both 
in education and otherwise; but he told the bench he was not in practice and not 
in position to combat. That being so, they must dismiss the information. 

Mr, Abel Thomas. I ask it should be with costs. 

The Stipendiary. I do not think it should be with costs. This is a test case. 

If, said his worship, the evidence adduced that day had been brought forward 
on a previous occasion, the result probably might have been different. 

Mr. Abel Thomas understood the bench had granted costs to the other side in a 
similar case, and there was surely no reason why the defense here should be dif- 
ferently treated. 

Mr, Allen. Practically, we had no costs at all. 

The stipendiary told Mr. Thomas that if he would send in his bill of costs it 
would be dealt with. 



Exhibit to Testimony of Frank L, James. 

[A translation. Cologne, October 15, 1898.] 

American Boraxed Meats in Germany, 

report to the members of the german association for the protection 
of their common interests in the meat and fat goods industry. 

In February of this year the police authorities at Solingen seized a parcel of 
American hams and induced the court to bring an action against the vendors of 
the merchandise, both father and son, at Ohligs. to pay a penalty on account of 
a breach of the food law of the 14th of May, 1897. paragraph 12, Resp. 14. The 
action was brought in consequence of a public announcement made by the Solingen, 
respectively Cologne, town council, conveying a caution against the sale of hams 
prepared with borax and boracic acid, such being deemed injurious to health in 
accordance with the judgment which had issued from the CologTie law courts. 

In view of the fact that American meats had on various occasions been the 
subject of attacks on account of their being packed in borax, and in view of the 
continually recurring statements of the opposition press that borax and boracic 
acid were injurious to health when employed as a means of preservation, which 
appeared to have actually gained belief among some authorities, our union 
decided, in formal committee, to defend the above-mentioned action and contribute 
by the opinions of expert aiithorities to have the question settled by law whether 
borax and boracic acid were injurious to health when employed for the purpose 
of food preservation. On accovmt or the enormous importance of the subject, 
both from a national and international point of view as far as the meat commerce 
is concerned, I have ventured in the interests of all to distribute the undermen- 
tioned full report of the action and the resulting issue. 

Let it be first prefaced that in December of last year two Cologne firms were 
charged before the local police court on account of selling borax-treated hams. 
The crux of the subject, namely, the question that boracic acid, respectively borax, 
is or is not injurious to health when employed as a means of food preservation, 
was never discussed in that prosecvition, as no experts had been called for the 
defense at the trial. The bench therefore took the injuriousness for granted, but 
dismissed the accused, presuming that they had been ignorant of its possessing 
such injurious quality. No doubt the opinion of the magistrates as to its injuri- 
ousness had been contributed to in no small measure by the statement of the expert 
chemist, Mr. Kyll, that the Imperial Board of Health in Berlin had likewise 
declared meat goods treated with borax as injurious to health. This statement 
was, as has been demonstrated since, a completely eri'oneous one. no such declara- 
tion having up to this time emanated from the Imperial Board oc Health. On the 
contrary, at the extraordinary general meeting of the analytical chemists of Sax- 
ony, which took place at Chemnitz on the 1st of December, 1897, the Government 
doctor. Professor Von Buchka, declared as member and in the namp of the Imperial 
Board of Health: 

"The question of the application and the admissibility of preserving agents is one 
which occupies a prominent place just now, considerably affecting our interests, 
and it must not be denied that the settlement of this question is one which from 
many points of view deserves to rank as of great importance. It is above every- 
thing also of the greatest moment that cheap, but at the same time healthy, 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 277 

means of uoiirishment for the less favorably situated working populations be 
provided. In respect to borax and boracic acid, different views are still held, 
although it is well known that meat imported from America is impregnated with 
borax and boracic acid. As regards the final decision of the question whether 
such an addition of borax and the continued consumption of articles of food 
impregnated therewith is injurious to health, I desire for the present that this be 
considered in abeyance. At this moment experiments are being carried on by 
the imperial board of health. They would in any case have to be continued for 
a considerable time before a conclusive decision can be arrived at." 

Had the Cologne board of justice known of the above declaration made by the 
imperial board of health officer a few days prior to the then trial, they would 
not have credited the statement of the expert that the imperial board of health 
had likewise declared borax-treated meats to be injurious to health, and they 
would certainly not have regarded in their judgment the injuriousness of such 
preserved meats as proven. 

Innumerable and oppressive hindrances to the trade have been the consequences 
of these lawsuits. On the strength of the verdict, police authorities in various 
departments issued public warning against the sale of borax-treated meats. The 
trade thereby found itself forced to replace the packing in borax by means of 
other preservative agents. Many thousands of marks were wasted over these 
experiments, and still it has not been found possible to secure an equivalent sub- 
stitute. 

I now come to the actual hearing of the present lawsuit. As has been published 
in the newspapers, the examination took place on the 29th September, 1898, at the 
Elberfeld court of justice, and resulted in the acquittal of the accused free of costs. 

The attorney for the Crown called as experts: (1) The chemist. Dr. Neuhoffer, 
as witness respecting the qualitative and (luantitative presence of boracic acid; (3) 
Dr. Longhart, of Cologne, as adviser respecting the injuriousness to health, whose 
previously delivered opinion in a Cologne lawsuit was produced, but who had not 
appeared, and the lawyer for the Crown, in the course of the hearing, dispensed 
with the same: further, the surgeon. Dr. Wolf, of Elberfeld; Dr. Berker, of 
Elberfeld, and Dr. Schulz, member and on behalf of the Royal College of Coblenz. 

For the defense there appeared as expert Geh. Medizinalrat, Dr. O. Lieb- 
reich, professor of the University and director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Insti- 
tute in Berlin. 

The expert chemist. Dr. Neuhoffer, proved first that in the ham examined he 
had confirmed the presence of boracic acid both on the surface, as also in the 
interior. The analysis had revealed the presence of 0.36G per cent of boracic acid, 
so that if a man had consumed one-half pound of this ham he would have taken 
up 0.915 grams of boracic acid; in a written opinion forming the base of this pros- 
ecution. Dr. Neuhoffer had declared, as far as its injuriousness to health was con- 
cerned: 

•• In my opinion we are not at the moment in a position to give a decided opinion 
whether tlie boracic acid present would have injurious effects." 

Verbally he declared, in the course of examination, that it was not a question 
for him, but it was a question for the medical experts present as to the aspects in 
relation to health, but he still thought it his duty to say that boracic acid did not 
belong to ham. On the other hand, it was shown that of the 80 hams that had 
been seized the chemist had only examined one, and had only used a single prep- 
aration in order to determine the quantitative boracic acid present. 

Since, however, it was well known, and had been expressly set down by the 
delegate of the imperial board of health on the 1st of December, 1897, that up to 
the present no absolutely reliable methods for the determination of boracic acid 
could be utilized, the chemical opinion expressed here must, at the least, be 
regarded as not sufficiently well grounded. 

To this the attorney for the Crown replied that he had a second chemical analy- 
sis which showed about 40 per cent less boracic acid, and this confirmed exactly 
the opinions expressed by the solicitors for the defense. 

In reply to the concluding remark of the expert that boracic acid did not belong 
to ham, this could be met by the evidence that the butchers" journals and price 
lists of pickling houses not onlj^ daily recommend the application of boracic acid 
as a food preservative, but also that the German butchers and manufacturers of 
meat goods used boracic acid in large quantities for purposes of food preservation, 
and regarded the same as harmless, and up to the present unreplaceable, means of 
preserving their goods. 

In the medical opinions invited by the prosecution Dr. Berger stated that he 
would regard a ham which contained 0.366 per cent of boracic acid when cooked 
as absolutely harmless, as during the cooking the greater portion of the boracic 



278 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS 

acid would be dissolved. The quantity of one-half pound, which would contain 
0.915 grams, eaten raw would also no doubt be quite harmless, but in larger quan- 
tities it is quite possible the consumption of such ham might not agree, as already 
in single doses of six-eighths of a grain, which would correspond with three-fourths 
of a pound of this ham, sickness had resulted, and repeated doses of four-sixths of 
a grain had been followed by stomach catarrh and catarrh of the bowels. 

Dr. Wolf considered doses of boracic acid in the proportion of one-half grain as 
harmless, but doses above 2 grains had injurious effects, and wished particiTlarly 
to emphasize that boracic acid after its application had been left off still continued 
to exercise effect, and that cases had occurred where patients treated with boracic 
acid, even fourteen days after the boracic-acid application had been left off, showed 
traces of the boracic acid in their urine. He added, however, that the accused 
were no doubt ignorant of its dangerous effects, as it was well known that some of 
the first authorities — as, for example. Dr. Liebreich — had made experiments on the 
preservation of articles of food, particularly of fish, with boracic acid, and from 
these no ill effects up to the present had been made apparent. 

The richest material for the justification of the prosecution was furnished by 
Dr. Schulz, of the Royal Medical College of Coblenz. He quoted from medical 
literature instances in which the medicinal use of boracic acid had produced ill 
effects — yes, in a few cases certainly, in very much larger doses than here in ques- 
tion, fatal results had followed. The washing of the stomach and of the bladder 
with boracic acid in strong solutions for treatment of open abscesses, carbuncle 
swellings, as also the treatment of epilepsy with boracic acid, had in a few cases 
been followed by fever, eruptions, stomach catarrh, catarrh of the bowels, inflam- 
mation of the kidneys, etc. 

With justice, the expert explained that from the police point of view, as regards 
the question of health, an article of food must be considered injurious if it is inju- 
rious when raw, even though it is not injurious when cooked; it was a question 
whether it was dangerous to health in the condition in which it was sold. In the 
same way, the quantity could not be limited, and the consumption of over one-half 
Ijound be considered injurious while it was permissible to consume up to one-half 
pound. But less justifiable appears his further explanation, that if in a number 
of instances, or even if as a rule, considerably larger (luantities than those affected 
here do not cause any ill effects, or have not made themselves noticeable, this 
would still be no proof of its harmlessness, as when an article of food is consumed 
by old and young, the weak and strong, the healthy and sick, the individual cases 
which have shown unpleasant results must decide the verdict, even if these are 
very mvich in the minority. 

Thus the use of lead, directly it came into contact with articles of food, was 
absolutely forbidden by law, although the quantity naturally incorporated was an 
extremely small one and in most cases would no doubt have been free from any 
injurious effects on the health, but notwithstanding even in such cases the use of 
lead was forbidden by law. Accordingly the College of Medicine was of opinion 
that the hams in question, if consumed continuously for some time, might have 
been capable of exercising injurious effects upon the health. 

After the medical professor, Dr. O. Liebreich, had, as already stated, submitted 
the chemical opinion to a criticism, he dealt with the subject from the medical 
point of view, and expressed himself opposed to the opinions of the three last- 
named experts. He stated that at the instigation of Professor Virchow, of Berlin, 
he had carried on a long series of experiments with boracic acid, and that he had 
convinced himself that the same proved itself a most valuable preservative, and 
that in the quantities affected it was quite harmless. Among other things he had 
preserved sea fish with boracic acid and eaten the same for eight days continu- 
ously. Very large dinners had been served with these fish without the slightest 
unpleasant effects coming to light after. He had carried on experiments with a 
large number of animals taking the boracic acid regularly for a long period with- 
out objectionable consequences having resulted in a single instance. 

At the same time had he given rabbits doses of 4 to G grains, and that frequently, 
or had he introduced the boracic acid direct into the circulation of the blood by 
means of hypodermic injection, unpleasant consequences might well have followed 
without the same contributing the slightest evidence as to whether the substance 
in question was or was not of value as a preserving agent. Even if the effects of 
very strong solutions of boracic acid applied in washing out the stomach and blad- 
der or as a cataplasm on open abscesses had in individual cases been attended with 
lanpleasant results, not only much too large a dose of boracic acid had been applied, 
far in excess of any that could be called into question for preservative purposes, 
but besides not the slightest conclusions can be drawn from the effects in the 
above-mentioned disease cases as to the injurious effects of boracic acid when 
employed as a preserving agent. Saltpeter has from time immemorial been 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 279 

employed for pickling purposes. No one would dream of calling it into question, 
and yet its effects, if applied medicinally, as in the above-mentioned cases, would 
be of a very serious nature. That thejirinciple should be adopted, however, from 
a police point of view solicitous about the public health, to forbid the sale of any 
article of food simply because in the most exceptional cases it exercised unpleasant 
effects, even if such only occurred when applied in large doses medicinally, would 
have much too far-reaching consequences. It is a well-known fact that there are 
many individuals who can not enjoy strawberries, crabs, lobsters, etc., without the 
same causing an eruption on the whole body, higli fever, swellings, etc. If the 
view expressed by tlie representative of the Medical College should be carried 
out, the proper place for all dealers in fruits, crabs, lobsters, etc., would be at the 
police court. Continuous feeding on pickled meat produces disagreeable conse- 
quences, ordinary salt in warm water produces sickness and nausea, black coffee, 
and ever so many other daily articles of consumption produce in individual cases 
symptoms of illness; but no one ever thinks of forbidding these articles of food 
and of imposing a line in the event of the same being sold; with some people one 
thing does not agree which others enjoy, and each individual has to be guided 
accordingly, without calling in the intervention of the police. As far as he was 
concerned, neither in actual practice nor according to authoritative literature was 
a single instance known where meat prepared or ]u*eserved with borax or boracic 
acid had exercised injurious effect on the health of any individual, nor even when 
it had caused unpleasant results; and tiirning to the other experts, he concluded 
that he took it for granted the other gentlemen present were eiiually unac(|uainted 
with any such instance, as no doubt in the contrary event they would not have 
omitted to (^uote it. It must be remembered, too, that in Germany at least 10,000,000 
and in England over 100,000,000 pounds of meats treated with borax were con- 
sumed yearly. The quotation with reference to lead was erroneous, since the so- 
called "lead law" existed which expressly permitted a specified proportion of lead 
in articles of daily use. Only a short time ago he had expressed an opinion in a 
court of law that the so-called ' ' crowing cocks," a toy covered with a layer of lead, 
etc., scarcely exposed the children who played with it to the slightest danger, as 
if the children were to use the same for many centuries they would not absorb the 
amount of a lead shot pellet, and as soon as the Gehinrat professor. Dr. Liebi'eich, 
had concluded, the prosecutor on behalf of the Crown decided that the action be 
withdrawn, and dismissed the accused, undertaking that all expenses incurred 
should be borne by the State. The bench decided accordingly, while the judge, on 
the application of the defendant, ordered that the hams which had been seized 
should be given up to him. The finding reads: 

"As the object, namely, its injuriousness to health, had not been proved, and 
particularly after the convincing expression of Professor Liebreich opposed to the 
opinionsof the medical college, who failed to proveits injuriousness to health, 'etc. 

After the verdict had become legally binding, since no appeal was made by the 
State attorney, I beg to make the same generally known, it being now estal)lished 
that meat goods packed in borax, such as hams and meats in casks and cases com- 
ing from America, are not considered as injurious to health. 

(Signed:) 

The German Association for the Protection of their Common Inter- 
ests IN the Meat and Fat Goods Industry. Manager, G. Reuver. 



In an issue of the National Provisioner, dated January 31, 1899, appears the 
following, on page 20: 

dr. liebriech on boracic acid. 

Dr. C. Liebriech, director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Institute in Berlin, said, 
at the instigation of Profes.sor Virchow. that he had carried on a long series of 
experiments with boracic acid and had convinced himself that it was admirably 
adapted as a food preservative, and in the quantities necessary for that purpose it 
was quite harmless. He added that neither in actual practice nor according to 
authoritative literature has a case been known, so far as he was aware, in which 
food prepared or preserved with borax or boracic acid had exercised a deleterious 
effect on the health of any individual. 

On page 11 of the same issue of the National Provisioner appears the following: 

acid fright. 

It seems that those who woiild riiin, if possible, our valuable possession — a large 
and increasing export trade in meat and provisions— are now engaged in making a 



280 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

flank movement on the public mind with the words "poison"' and "acids."' The 
packers have asserted that they iised no poisons, acids, nor other chemicals, either 
in refrigerating or in canning meats. The whole of the Agricultural Department 
verifies this important statement in every particular. Dr. Wiley, the distinguished 
chemist of the Government, has purchased in Washington and taken from 
army stores cans of stuff, analyzed them last week, and found no trace of poisons, 
acids, or other chemicals. Any serious mind must accept these facts unless some 
scandal monger is ready to assert that such eminent specialists are corrupt or 
incompetent. Chemicals were not used in these army meats, our impartial Gov- 
ernment experts and chemists say. But suppose that the residue of poisons and 
chemicals had been found upon analysis, that would in no sense establish the fact 
that they were used in harmful quantities or that such chemicals were harmful. 
Every physician uses the deadliest poisons as tonics and helpful agencies upon the 
human system, and they are not hounded for this because improper quantities are 
hurtful or even deadly. 

Strychnine is fatal in certain (luantities as a stomach poison. In proper quan- 
tities it is a very healthful tonic. Every physician prescribes it. and traces of it 
would be found in a patienfs carcass were it boiled down, even though used in 
proper quantities. 

Nux vomica is a popular remedy, yet it is a deadly poison when used to excess. 
So is nitroglycerin. Creosote, whicli is oil of tar, is prescribed for internal use 
in pulmonary complaints, yet it is a fatal poison if unskillfully used. Sulphuric 
acid dilute is a well-known tonic, but in excess it means death. Alcohol diluted 
is not ordinarily considered injurious, but absolute alcohol is fatal to the stomach 
which receives it. Muriatic or hydrochloric acid dilute is an aid to digestion. 
There must be hydrochloric acid in the stomach or there would be no digestion. 
The natural acid of the stomach is hydrochloric. Salicylic acid is an artificial 
Ijroduct from wintergreen, a deadly poison, which is largely prescribed by doctors 
because of its health-giving properties, especially in rheumatism. Boric or boracic 
acid is perfectly healthy or perfectly harmless when it is used in proper quantities. 
Besides, it is an antiseptic and a preservative. Tiie mere fact, then, that an 
analysis of anything which shows traces of this acid would not necessarily show 
that it liad been used in dangerous tiuantities. The argument that because a trace 
of an acid is found the substance is dangerous is illogical. Acetic and boracic 
acids are harmless as used, so a trace of the presence of either proves no dangerous 
fact. 

In an issue of the Chicago Tribune under date of appears the following: 

COLORINGS OF FOOD. 

Much of the artificial coloring of foods is traditional and not meant to deceive. 
Thus, candies are colored obviously to please the eye and add to the attractiveness 
of the confectioner's showcase, and likewise butter and mustard are colored with 
no intent to spoil their purity. 

On the other hand , colorings are often intended to conceal deficiencies. Skimmed 
milk is colored to give the appearance of richness, dilute alcohol to imitate wine, 
and acetic acid to imitate cider vinegar. The sanitary chemist is obliged to care- 
fully distinguish betwer'n the two kinds of coloring. With candies, mustard, but- 
ter, and similar substances the question is the wholesomeness of the color used, 
but the coloring of milk and spirits is an injury to the purchaser, no matter if the 
coloring is pure. 

Coloring used nowadays is mostly of coal-tar products, of which there are many 
forms. Germany leads the world in their manufacture. The composition of these 
colors is complex, and their names long and awkward. There is no good reason 
for regarding these standard coal-tar colors as unfit for use in food, as the quan- 
tity is so small that it does not count. In all probabilities these colors are analo- 
gous to those found in flowers, fruits, and seeds. All coal-tar colors are organic 
and readily decomposed in the system, and therefore they can not act as cumula- 
tive poisons. 

In an issue of the National Provisioner, dated June 25, 189S, on page 15, appears 
the following: 

THE USE OF BORACIC ACID. 

London, England, June 10. — Since my last advices on the question of boracic 
acid a case has been decided in the Pontypridd (Wales) police court in favor of 
one Enoch Rees, a grocer, who was arrested for selling " adulterated '" hams con- 
taining 6 per cent of boracic acid. The case was ably defended on behalf of 
the Grocers' Federation. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 281 

Dr. Thomas Bond. F. R. C. S., lecturer on forensic medicine and senior surgeon 
at Westminster Hospital, stated that he used boracic acid in surgical dressing and 
also administered it internally. The 6 per cent of acid in the ham was not inju- 
rious to the human system. 

Dr, Bell, specialist, of Glasgow, said for the last seventeen years his family and 
himself had, without intermission, been using milk and hams containing boracic 
acid without the slightest evidence of ill effects. He had used the acid very exten- 
sively and had given doses of 10 grains three and four times a day, and he would 
not hesitate to give 20 grains. He thought it would be a great loss to the public 
if the use of the acid were stopped. A milk-cured ham was much more healthy 
than a salted one. 

The siammons was dismissed. 

In an issue of the National Provisioner under date of , page 27, appears 

the following: 

BORACIC ACID IN BUTTER. 

The Birmingham, England, papers published an article recently from Mr. A. J. 
Giles, in which he controverted statements made at the Sanitary Institute Con- 
gress by Dr. Alfred Hill, medical officer of health for Birmingham, respecting the 
use of boracic acid for preserving foods. Mr. Giles supjiorts the resolution passed 
at the Sanitary Congi-ess (referred to in our issue of October 29). urging '-that 
investigation by recognized scientific aiithorities into the efiect of preservatives on 
health be set on foot,'" and then combats at length the aspersions passed by Dr. Hill 
upon the use of boracic acid as a food preservative. Mr. Giles says in part: 

" 1 see that Dr. Hill contends that the use of all preservatives should be sup- 
planted by refrigeration. This is impracticable. Take, for example, hams and 
bacons, of which the United Kingdom imports, roughly speaking, 0,700,000 hun- 
dredweight per annum, value about £12,000,000; neither the trade nor the public 
would appreciate these goods if put on this market under the conditions refrigera- 
tion would involve. Again, it is contended that butter is brought from Australia, 
a distance of about li3,000 miles, without the addition of any preservative what- 
ever. 

"Any exporter from the Antipodes will be able to verify my statement that a 
preservative is generally employed, and I have a cutting before me from the Auck- 
land Weekly News, August 20, received only this mail, quoting experiments car- 
ried out at the Camperdown factory, in Victoria, referring to two samples of 
butter, one put up with preservative and the other with salt, both being placed 
immediately after manufacture in a refrigerating room. The butter in which the 
preservative was used came out after a lengthy period in a very superior condition 
to the other sample, and the paper wisely reminds its readers that even this is not 
a sound test for commercial purposes, because the butter was put into cold storage 
directly after manufacture, and examined immediately it was taken out of the 
cold -chamber. Butter destined for the London market does not get such kind 
treatment. There are breaks before it reaches the consumer, and it is during 
these breaks that the preservative stands by the butter. No doubt Dr. Hill is 
aware that the taste of the public has been steadily developing, particularly in the 
."outh of England, in favor of mild and nnsalted goods. From both Ireland and 
Normandy an enormous quantity of fresh— that is. quite unsal ted— butter reaches 
the London market to meet the demand for fresh butter, and the addition of a 
preservative appears essential in order to enable it to reach the consumer in sound 
and palatable condition." 

The evidence against those who say that boracic acid as a food preservative is 
injurious is steadily accumulating. 



STATEMENT OF C. PRUYN STRINGFIELD. 

C. Pruyn Stringpield, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 

Direct examination by the Chairman: 
The Chairman. What is your name? 
Answer. C. Prnyn String-field. 
Q. Your profession? — A. Physician. 

Q. Where did you graduate, Doctor? — A. Chicago Medical College, 
now the Northwestern University Medical College. 



282 ADULTEEATIOlsr OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Are you connected with anj^ public institutions? 

Answer. I am consulting ph^^sician to the Chicago Baj)tist Hospital 
at present. I have had numerous hospital connections. 

The Chairman. And you are now in active practice as a physician 
and surgeon? 

Answer, Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. We were discussing before the committee the use 
of antiseptics. Our attention has been directed to two well-known 
antiseptics, salicylic acid and borax, or boracic acid. What do you 
say about the use of salicylic acid. Doctor. 

Answer. Used medicinally, it is an agent of great value, but as a 
preservative in beer — I presume j^ou are interested in that? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

The Witness. It is absolutely harmful and positively detrimental. 

The Chairman. What is the effect of it? 

Answer. The effect is that of a depressant of the heart and also of 
the respiration. It adds increased action to the heart for the first 
five or ten minutes, but that is followed by a depression which is in 
many instances absolutely dangerous. 

The Chairman. You don't know from actual experience or analy- 
sis whether it is used largely in practice or not? 

Answer. Not by analysis; no, sir. But I know from all literature 
on the subject that it is used as a preservative of beer almost univer- 
sally. It is certainly a great check to putrefaction. It is a powerful 
agent in that direction. If a man should drink a pint of beer, he 
would not get much salicylic acid ; but many men will sit down in a 
beer garden and drink a gallon, perhaps, in the course of an evening. 
At least some do, and they are very apt to get considerable salicylic 
acid. If they keep that up for days, they are going to accumulate 
still more. I have had cases of this kind in my own experience and 
practice where death has seemed imminent, where the patient has said 
that he had not drunk anything but beer, but he had been drinking 
that for several days or a week or two; and I have had cases where 
death was apparently due to the depression of the heart caused by 
the use of salicylic acid. 

The Chairman. What do you say about the use of borax as an 
antiseptic? 

Answer. I believe borax to be absolutely harmless, or virtually so. 

The Chairman. Do you give it as a medicine? 

Answer. I have given it as a medicine, and I have used it locally 
as an antiseptic in surgery in large quantities. My own experience 
has taught me that it is absolutely harmless. 

The Chairman. What is formaldehyde? 

Answer. I am not up on that. That is a very recent antiseptic. I 
think it is made from wood alcohol. 

The Chairman. Do you consider that a proper thing to put in food? 

Answer. I would not think so, but m\ experience is so limited in 
that line that I would not care to make a statement in regard to it. 
My impression would be that it would be dangerous, because it is 
certainly a very powerful germicide, and as such I should j)roceed 
very cautiously on that line. 

The source of salicjdic acid, if you will allow me to revert one 
moment, explains its danger. Salicylic acid made from the oil of 
wintergreen, which was formerly the custom, is not as dangerous as 
the present salicylic acid. The cheap salicylic acid is made from coal 
tar or some carbolic acid which is made from coal tar, and we all 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 283 

know that these new antipyretics coming from coal tar are almost 
without exception great heart depressors. 

The Chairman. I believe that is all, Doctor, for the present. I 
may want to consult you further. 



STATEMENT OF WALTER S. HAINES. 

Walter S. Haines, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Direct examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Answer. Walter S. Haines. 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Answer. I am the professor of chemistry in Rush Medical College, 
in this city. 

The Chairman. Have you been connected with that college for 
some time, Doctor? 

Answer. For the past twenty-three years continuously. 

The Chairman. I suppose you know, in a general way, the scope 
and intention of this investigation. We are trying to report some of 
the facts as to what foods — mixed and prepared foods — are deleterious 
to public health, and to-day we are on the branch of the use of anti- 
septics. You have had, as I remember, verj^^ extended experience 
along this line. 

Answer. Yes, sir; I have had quite a good deal of experience in 
this direction. 

The Chairman. And have been called, as I remember, on the ques- 
tion of the use of poisons and the effect of poisons; and it is for that 
reason. Professor, that we would like to have the benefit of your 
opinion to help the committee in ascertaining and reporting what of 
these autisei^tics are useful and beneficial and what are detrimental 
and dangerous. 

Answer. I think it should be stated at the start that the ideal way 
of presenting food to the consumer, when possible, is without any 
addition whatever or any treatment of any kind; but in a very large 
number of cases this is absolutely impossible, and therefore we are 
obliged to resort to various means of preserving food to prevent it 
from decomposition. This necessitates the use either of antiseptics 
or of refrigeration. Refrigeration, unquestionablj^, is an exceedingly 
valuable means of preserving food, but it has many serious objections. 
In the first place, it is expensive; in the second place, the refrigerat- 
ing means are liable to give out at critical moments and allow the 
entire material to spoil ; and in the third place, and most important of 
all, it is frequently impossible for retail dealers to have efficient 
refrigerating apparatus, and it is usually impossible for consumers, 
especially small consumers, to have refrigerating devices of any ade- 
quate degree of efficiency, so that refrigerating to-day is practically 
out of the question for a large number of articles. We are therefore 
obliged, of necessity, to use antiseptics for the preservation of food. 

I think I may say without the slightest exaggei'ation that a thou- 
sand times more damage has been done by the use of food that has 
not been preserved, through the generation of poisonous substances 
(such as ptomaines and the like), from the failure to use proper pre- 
serving agents, than have ever resulted from the preserving agents 
themselves. In fact, I think I put it very mildly when I saj^ that a 



284 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

thousand times as much injury has been produced by the failure to 
employ antiseptics — proper antiseptics — as bj^ the use of such proper 
antiseptics. Cases of poisoning, commonly called ptomaine j)oison- 
ing, resulting from decomposing flesh of various kinds, are recorded 
everj^ week or two in every large city, manj^ people dying and manj^ 
more being made very seriously ill by such food poisons. Therefore, 
as I stated before, I believe that the damage from antiseptics, whatever 
it may be, is far less than the damage that has been produced by the 
failure to use them properly. 

It becomes, therefore, I think, almost entirely a question of select- 
ing antiseptics. Some antisei)tics I regard as unquestionably^ harmful. 
Others are, when used in projDer proportions, practically harmless. 
In this latter category I think we may place common salt, although 
criticism may be offered respecting its use; saltpeter, concerning 
which also severe criticism may likewise be offered; and boric acid 
and its various preparations; and I may say at the start that I 
believe that these latter, boric acid and its preparations, are, on the 
whole, to be preferred to the other antiseptics mentioned, for various 
reasons. 

In the first place, they produce less effect upon the articles pre- 
served. Common salt and saltpeter impart considerable taste to 
meats, and therefore make them less palatable. Common salt and 
saltpeter affect the fiber of meats disagreeably, especially if an excess 
of them is used, and make them less palatable and less digestible, 
while boric acid and its preparations have scarcely any effect if used 
in small quantity in this direction. Common salt and saltpeter have 
a tendency to cause the juices of the meat to exude and run away, 
and very much of the valuable portion of the meat is thus lost. Boric 
acid and its preparations produce these effects to a much less extent, 
and the juices of the meats are more nearly retained in their natural 
condition. 

For all these reasons I believe boric acid and its preparations are 
to be preferred to common salt and saltpeter, if used in moderation. 

The toxicity or poisonous character of these substances ought, of 
course, to be compared. It is true that a certain number of cases have 
been reported of bad effects from boric acid and its preparations, but 
upon looking uj) the records I have failed to find a single case in 
which these unwholesome results could not be attributed reasonably 
either to an excessive dose, or to the disease for which the acid was 
employed, or to idiosyncrasies, or to impurities in the acid used. 

As to the first of these matters (the use of excessive doses), it is well 
known that common salt when used in large quantities, is dangerous, 
and we have cases of death from excessive doses of it. Saltpeter has 
caused many deaths; in one publication alone I find a record of be- 
tween 8 and 10 deaths from it. Boric acid has occasioned fewer deaths 
than these other two substances. 

As to the other modifying conditions that I spoke of, they exist con- 
cerning common salt and saltpeter quite as much as they do in regard 
to boric acid. We have persons who can not take much salt without 
experiencing injury and we have people who can not take saltpeter 
without injurj-. Certain jjeople are suscejitible to them; certain peo- 
ple have idiosyncrasies for them as they do for boric acid or for many 
other articles which are perfectly innocent to the majoritj;^ of the 
public. 

I think, therefore, considering the subject in these various lights, 
we must say — my investigations lead me to believe conclusively — that 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 285 

borax, boric acid, and the other preparations of l)oron are, as food 
preservatives, no more dangerous tlian common salt and saltpeter, and 
are to be preferred, for various reasons, to these substances. 

I am not often consulted in my capacity as a physician and a grad- 
uate in medicine, but occasionally I see patients with renal disorders. 
I have made something of a special study of these maladies and have 
not infrequently prescribed for them boric acid in considerable doses. 
I have in some cases administered 10 grains of boric acid four times a 
da}^ for weeks and months, and I never yet have seen a single case in 
which there was the slightest unwholesome effect, but, on the con- 
trary, the very happiest results have often followed such administra- 
tion, so that my personal experience agrees with what I have learned 
by consultation with others in regard to its effects. 

The Chairman. Are you the author of any book on poisons or anti- 
septics'? 

Answer, I am now preparing a book on the subject of poisons, which 
is about going to j)ress. 

The Chairman. That book has not j^et been published? 

Answer. It has not yet been issued, but will be in the autumn. 

The Chairman. How extensive have you made this a study? 

Answer. I have given a very considerable time for twenty-five 
years to the study of poison. I have examined a large number of 
cases of poisoning of all kinds, and have analyzed a large number of 
foods for the detection of poison. Of necessity I have kept myself 
acquainted with the literature of all kinds of poisons. 

The Chairman. Approximately, how manj^ different poisoning cases 
do you think you have been employed to examine? 

Answer. Probably 150 different cases. 

The Chairman. All over the United States? 

Answer. Yes, sir; in different parts of the United States. 



STATEMENT OF ARTHUR R. EDWARDS. 

Arthur R. Edwards, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 
Examination by the Chairman: 

The Chairman. Will you state your name, profession, and residence? 

Answer. My name is Arthur R. Edwards. 

The Chairman. Your profession? 

Answer. Physician. 

The Chairman. Residence? 

Answer. In this city. 

The Chairman. How long have you been practicing medicine, 
Doctor? 

Answer. Since 1891 — eight years. 

The Chairman. Where did you graduate? 

Answer. At the Northwestern U niversity Medical School (the Chicago 
Medical College). 

The Chairman. What, if anj', position do you hold now? 

Answer. At present I hold the chair of medicine in the Chicago 
Medical College, Northwestern University Medical School. I am phy- 
sician to a number of hospitals, including St. Luke's and the Cook 
County hospital. 

The Chairman. You have made the question of poisons and anti- 
septics something of a study? 



286 ADULTEEATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Answer. Yes; I was professor of that subject for a number of j^ears 
before I had the chair of medicine in the Chicago Medical College. 

The Chairman. I wish j^ou would give us, in a general way, the 
benefit of your opinion as to the use of preservatives in any articles 
of food. 

Answer. Like Dr. Haines, I think that the ideal method is for the 
consumer to have the food fresh and without admixture of -any pre- 
servatives whatsoever; but that is impracticable, because in the 
transportation of food articles of almost any kind are apt to decom- 
pose — milk and butter and cheese and meats i^articularly — and it 
might be better, perhaps, to preserve these articles with any one of a 
number of preservatives rather than to allow the going on in them of 
decomposition through the action of bacteria, which will surely gain 
access to these articles of food. So that while it is not the ideal 
method, still it is a practical method to admix with the food certain 
articles for its preservation; and, as Dr. Haines i)ointed out, it 
is not alwaj^s practicable to refrigerate, under the circumstances. 
It would be by far the lesser evil, indeed the very best thing, to add 
to the foods some mild preservative, which would not in any way 
injure the human organism. It is the method to which we are com- 
pelled to resort, and then it simply becomes a question of the selec- 
tion of one of a class of remedies. Various preservatives are used — 
salt, saltpeter, borax or boracic acid, salicylic acid, and still others 
are used. Other combinations are used, the exact nature of which 
we are not acquainted with, many secret formulas being used for this 
purpose. 

Regarding these individual preservatives, salicjdic acid is, I think, 
not to be used — that is, if we can possibly avoid it — because it pro- 
duces quite a number of dangerous symptoms, or may produce many 
accidents in its use, even when we use it clinically and are aware of 
its dangers. There are certain individuals wlio may suffer from 
serious accidents from the use of salicylic acid or any of its deriva- 
tives. It even produces mental symptoms, as delirium or convulsions 
in susceptible infants. It depresses the heart. It often congests the 
lungs. It is very apt to disturb the digestion. And then, again 
(which is possibly its greatest danger), it is particularly apt to irritate 
or actually inflame the kidneys. So that, as a broad statement, it is 
a preservative which should be very closely watched and which should 
not be used indiscriminately at least. I think the consensus of opin- 
ion is against its free use. There are other preservatives — formalde- 
hyde and its various derivatives. We don't know much about that 
as yet, and still they have such a marked local action — for example, 
upon the upi3er air passages, when inhaled, when it comes in contact 
with the fingers, where it hardens and thickens the skin — that we 
would rather shun it as a preservative, although all of the evidence is 
not in on that subject. 

The most common preservatives are the borax preparations — boracic 
acid or boric acid — borax, common salt, and saltpeter. We find all 
of these used. Saltpeter is often injurious, especially injurious 
because it is known to produce death, because the salts will depress 
the heart. Potassium salts are particularly depressant. So that I 
think of these three preparations, or three groups, the saltpeter deriv- 
atives are the least to be used. Salt is most commonly used, and pos- 
sibly most generallj'' considered of all the preservatives relatively 
innocuous; and still, as a matter of fact, even ordinary salt, as Pro- 
fessor Haines pointed out, produces probably as many deaths as any 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 287 

of the milder antiseptics. Furthermore, when it is used it enters into 
such intimate connection with the meat, or the substance preserved, 
that it often makes it difficult of digestion. For instance, it will 
harden the meat, so that certain classes of individuals, such as dys- 
peptics, could not use it readily. Then, again, it may irritate the 
stomach, to say nothing of the constitutional symptoms which may be 
produced. 

Now, as to the use of borax or boracic acid, the question has been 
looked into from several standpoints. In the first place, it has been 
examined, especially lately, with particular care, in order to see what 
its action upon the digestion is — that is, whether it injures the stom- 
ach or intestines or whether it limits the flow of digestive juices; 
whether it delays the rapidity of the processes of digestion ; and these 
chemical, or these ph3\siological, researches have shown that it inter- 
feres verj^ little with digestion in its various forms. The salivary 
digestion is at the most, even with the use of large quantities of borax 
or boracic acid, only slowed in its rate, but not impaired as to the 
intensity of the action of the ferments which are found in the saliva. 
Experiments show that something like 10 per cent of borax or boracic 
acid may be used without very greatly interfering with the salivary 
digestion from the fluids secreted by the glands of the mouth, and 
that is far in excess of its use in the preservation of any article of food. 

As far as its use in the stomach is concerned it does not, even in 
large- doses, interfere with the digestion of the stomach; and it is 
claimed that when the drug is given to animals or given to human 
beings in any doses which are reasonably used that it rather aids 
than retards digestion. 

And then with the digestion in the bowels, the digestion which is 
carried on by the bowels, and especially by the juices of the pancreas, 
it appears rather to aid the digestion there, if any change whatever 
is made in the digestion. So that, merely considered as a drug, as we 
would administer it to an individual from this experimental stand- 
point, it is devoid of any danger. 

Now, looking at it from the other standpoint, more from the stand- 
point of a practitioner or of a physician, borax and boracic acid have 
been used in very large quantities, used verj^ persistently, used in all 
kinds of doses, in various conditions of debility, without producing 
any very essential effect on the organism. That is, it may be given 
to children who are probably more susceptible, even, to j)roportionate 
doses of poison than any other class. Relatively large doses can be 
given to children, and, indeed, in the treatment both of medical and 
surgical diseases of childhood the drug and its various compounds has 
been used without any essential danger. Children being very suscep- 
tible, it is nevertheless used as a mouth wash, often in the new-born, 
often where there are little mold growths in the mouth, the child being 
allowed to swallow considerable quantities of it without any injurious 
effect. 

In adults very large doses can be given. In the old days, when 
epilepsy was treated by borax, very large doses were given, and very 
seldom, indeed, with any especial effect on the organs, from 60 to 100 
grains not being infrequently administered. 

At the present time we can use borax or boracic acid either inter- 
nally or externally. As far as its external use is concerned, we would 
not hesitate to apply it to the skin in almost any condition. Simply 
as an examj^le: In a child with burns, where the skin must be kept 
moist, or where we wish germs to be excluded from the skin in order 



288 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

to avoid blood poisoning, we may wet the dressings with a saturated 
boric acid solution and lay them on the skin with very little, if any, 
danger of bad effects from its absorption, while practically every other 
antiseptic is interdicted because of the danger of absorption of the 
poison. Infants with a limb injury can be immersed bodily or have 
the part continuously irrigated, continuously soaked in a solution of 
boric acid, without practically a thought even of danger to the indi- 
vidual. We don't regard the danger as practically anything. In the 
same way, when we use it internally we don't dread any action from 
its use. 

When we wish to use an antiseptic in any of the cavities of the body, 
even in the most delicate individuals, or where we wisli to use anti- 
septics in people who are prone to react very delicately to other drugs, 
we use boric acid without any fear whatever. Foi- instance, we can 
use it to wash out the stomach. We would not hesitate to wash out 
the stomach with it, and we would not hesitate, and, indeed, jDracti- 
cally we always do, leave certain quantities of the acid in the stomach. 
The borax, like the sodium bicarbonate and other remedies, dissolves 
the mucus, and then is an antiseptic besides. So that we would wash 
out the stomach a number of times, introduce a considerable quantity 
of boric acid, and allow a considerable quantity of it to be drawn off 
by the stomach tube, and we would not apprehend any serious results 
if the whole amount were left in the stomach. 

1 have i^ersonally used it most frequently in this direction, to wash 
out the bowels, especially when the bowel is the seat of various 
mucous inflammations, where there is what is known as a mucous 
inflammation of the colon. It is a favorite remedj^ for use there. We 
use it without any fear of poisoning at all. If it remains in the bowel 
and does not escape that does not concern us. We wash out the 
bladder and wash out other cavaties with it. In surgical proceedings 
we would wash out the bowels freely with it, where we would use 
probably uo other antiseptics for fear of the local irritation, or for 
fear that considerable quantities would be dissolved. We wash out 
the chest cavity. Often it is used in operations on the brain or 
bowels, where we would hesitate to use the strong corrosives like 
corrosive sublimate and carbolic acid. In this connection it might be 
said that boric acid and borax, and boric acid particularly, is not an 
acid in the ordinary sense. It is not a corrosive. It does not change 
the tissues with which it comes in contact; that is, as we popularly 
understand the term "acid," it is not really an acid, any more than 
caribou ic acid is an acid. It does not eft'ect local changes in the 
tissues. So much more from my own personal standpoint and what 
I have seen of its use, and when we come to transfer its use to pre- 
servatives it is not a remedy which will prevent tissues or foods which 
are already decomposing from actual decomposition after its use. In 
other words, it does not pickle or fix or harden meat as a brine solu- 
tion would or as bichloride or formaldehyde or any of its preparations 
would. It does not injure the food if it is used. We would not hesi- 
tate to give it even to children for digestive disturbances. It is often 
given in milk. 

While ideally we desire to avoid preservatives, still when it comes 
to a practical view point boric acid and its derivatives have prac- 
tically no dangers at all; and in looking over the same literature 
which Dr. Haines mentioned, we find even in the most recent works 
a denial by high authorities on the subject that any case of death has 
been due to boric acidj and in cases which were recorded by other 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 289 

writers we have the possibilities which can be excluded, in which it 
suggests itself at once to us that the person who died while using 
boric acid or while taking enormous doses of the drug, probably died 
from die disease for which the drug was used. That is, a patient 
having decomposition going on in the bladder, or having severe kid- 
ney trouble, would be more likely to die from the trouble for which 
the remedy was administered than from the very small doses of the 
remedy itself. That is a point which is not enough regarded in the 
few cases of i^oisoning which have been mentioned. 

You may say practically, with the more critical authors, that very 
few, if any, autlienticated deaths have resulted even from the most 
enormous doses. So that, considering the small percentage of borax 
or boric acid which is used in food as shown by our use of it in 
surgical and medical practice and as applied to the digestive tract, it 
is absurd, as shown by physiological experiments on digestion, as 
shown by even these alleged fatal cases, to say that it is a preserva- 
tive which we need in any way dread. It is the ideal preservative, 
superior even to common salt, because of the lack of change or 
admixture of the substances to which it is added for preservation. 

The Chairman. Do you agree with Professor Haines — and I think 
Professor James as well — that the article preserved does not absorb 
as much borax as it does salt, for instance? 

Answer. It absorbs very little ; yes. The articles, as I understand, 
are simply rolled in this preservative. It is packed around and out- 
side, and it operates diiferently from what it would — for example, 
from what salicylic acid would in beer. There it is mixed in solution 
and permeates the entire substance, and here it is applied as an 
external application, unless there is something to pickle or soak the 
product — something kept around it — in order to prevent the germs in 
the air from reaching the substance to be preserved. It israther a 
shield against decomposition than an actual antiseptic which would 
soak the tissues. It enters very little into the substance of the meat. 
In butter and milk, of course, it would be mixed very intimately, but 
even then without danger. 

The Chairman. The question has been asked whether fresh pork 
is better from a health standpoint than properly cured pork. 

Answer. As far as pork is concerned, no; there is always danger 
from pork. Hog cholera and the various poisons in that, and trichina, 
etc. — it is much better to have it either cooked or cured. 

The Chairman. So that that w^ould be one exception to the general 
rule, which you say is the ideal method. 

Answer. Of course, the ideal deals with perfectly fresh food, and 
food that is i^erfectly free from disease, which, however, under exist- 
ing conditions, is almost impossible to procure. (Addressing Profes- 
sor Haines) : AVould that meet your approbation, Professor Haines? 

Professor Haines. Yes, entirely. I should have made that reser- 
vation in jny remarks. 

The Chairman. That an article of fresh pork — some of ttie dangers 
as a food article are removed by proper curing? 

Professor Haines. Unquestionably. 

Dr. Edwards. That is very true. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything further. Doctor? 

The Witness. I don't think so. 

The Chairman. Your personal experience bears out the investiga- 
tion of others, that you have given in your testimony? 

Answer, I should say there that the bulk of these statements I 
FP 19 



290 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

made are not only the result of what I know from literature — that is, 
the theory of the subject — but also from especially the practical stand- 
point of my own individual experience — that is, that it is used inter- 
nally and is used in washing out cavities and in washing out the 
bowels, etc. I would like to make it read that way. 

The Chairman. And you are engaged in active practice in internal 
medicine? 

Answer. In internal medicine ; yes, sir. 



Tuesday, June 7, 1899. 
The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m. 
Present, the chairman. 

STATEMENT OF MR. KARL EITEL. 

Mr. Karl Eitel, first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman, What is your name '? 

Mr. Eitel. Karl Eitel. 

The Chairman. Where do you reside ? 

Mr. Eitel. Six hundred and sixty-four Evanston avenue. 

The Chairman. City? 

Mr. Eitel. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is your business ? 

Mr. Eitel. I am an importer of wine and beer. 

The Chairman. What firm are you connected with? 

Mr. Eitel. The firm of Eitel Bros. 

The Chairman. From what country do you import beer ? 

Mr. Eitel. From Bavaria, and from Bohemia — states of Austria. 

The Chairman. Do both the countries of Germany and Austria 
have laws regarding the regulation and manufacture of beer ? 

Mr. Eitel. Germany has it. The single states of Germany and I 
think of Bohemia; I am not positive. 

The Chairman. How about Bavaria ? 

Mr. Eitel. They are the strictest that we have had so far. 

The Chairman. Do you remember, just briefly, what the terms are 
in regard to the manufacture of beer in Bavaria? 

Mr. Eitel. That is quite a very long letter, and I would not like to 
undertake to say, but I will give you a copy of it. It takes a little 
time to secure it as I have to get it from the German consul. 

The Chairman. Does it require the use of a certain amount of hops 
and malt? 

Mr. Eitel, I could not tell you exactly. I would rather prefer to 
give you a copy of the law. 

The Chairman. One of the complaints made by scientific men 
against beer of all kinds and wines is the use of antiseptics for pre- 
serving. Is there any preservative in the beer that you import? 

Mr. Eitel. I know positively that in the beer that we buy from 
Munich that there is nothing in it but malt and hops. Nothing but 
alcohol; no chemicals. 

The Chairman. Any salicylic acid? 

Mr. Eitel. The Bavarian Government would not allow that. I know 
that some parties made up once a proposition to put our beers in free 
port, either at Rotterdam or Antwerp, or to adulterate with salicylic 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 291 

acid, but as it was with beer you can not reach a case again when it 
was filled up. They wanted to try that once, but I claim that any 
beer that will be exported direct from Germany has direct consular 
investigation from Munich. It could not be touched. It leaves the 
country in bond to the United States. There is in Germany, between 
the States — there is a tax collected on beer so that they can know the 
character and the class of it. It is placed there in bond the same as 
it is here. If ~ the beer should be adulterated it would have to be 
adulterated in Munich. I do not believe that any responsible firm 
would adulterate any such thing, the same as any American brewer 
would not undertake to sell his beer without a stamp, which is an 
utter impossibility. 

The Chairman. What countries do you imjDort wine from? 

Mr. EiTEL. From Spain, from France, and from Germany. 

The Chairman. How about the use of antiseptics in wine? Do you 
know anything about that? 

Mr. EiTEL. Of course all different countries have different systems, 
but it is largely a matter of convenience with the firms you buy from. 
The law for the wine-producing States in Germany is very strict, and 
it is limited to a certain per cent that will be allowed to be used, of 
sugar and all that. I could also furnish you a copy of that — a full 
cop3^ of the law, so that you could see how the Government looks out 
for that. I do not know the details. They allow you to make what 
we call artificial wine. It has to be sold under that name and labeled 
as artificial wine, and as artificial beer or beers. 

The Chairman. They have a system which compels the marking of 
goods for just wliat they are. 

Mr. EiTEL. Yes; they have one system of making wine and they 
press the grape and j^ut some chemicals and sugar and other things 
to it and make Avhat they call a second wine. That is full of adultera- 
tion. It has to be sold by the name. 

The Chairman. That would be a good way to reach it in this coun- 
try. I think that is all. I may want to ask you some other questions. 
I am much obliged to get this. The plan of the committee is to get 
them to mark their beer and wine for what it is. 

Mr. EiTEL. Yes; to simply sell it under the full name. You can 
go in any of the small wholesale houses and ask for Riidesheimer 
and Johannisberger and all that and tliey will give you something, 
but 3^ou do not know what kind of wine; they sell it under a false 
name. 

The Chairman. They commit a fraud. It may be healthy and all 
right? 

Mr. ElTEL. Oh, yes; but it is adulterated. 

The Chairman. Is it jDossible for the retailer to jjut in that adultera- 
tion after he gets it in his hands? 

Mr. EiTEL. In bottle goods that is not possible. In casks he could 
do it. 

The Chairman. Retailers sometimes are bottlers. 

Mr. EiTEL. Yes, sir; there is no way of controlling that. 



STATEMENT OF MR. C. V. PETRAENS. 

Mr. C. V. Petraens, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Mr. Petraens. C. V. Petraens. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 



292 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Petraens. I am a cliemist. I am a graduate of the University 
of Copenhagen. I have been practicing for about — since 1871, and at 
present am running a lead-smelting and white-lead plant at Joplin, Mo. 

The Chairman. Now in order to save time and to be consistent in 
this matter, I will direct your attention to the question of alum baking 
powder. Mr. Rew has wanted your evidence in this record and the 
committee are very glad to get it, and if you will state your knowledge, 
and experience, and opinion, the committee will be very much obliged. 

Mr. Petraens. I never personally manufactured any baking powder, 
but some ten or fifteen years ago I v/as consulted by manufacturers 
about baking powder, and more from a scientific interest than for any 
other reason I investigated the matter of alum baking jDowder, and 
wrote an article for tlie paper on the subject, and I came to the con- 
clusion that alum baking powders were really the most perfect of any 
in the market; that is, that desiccated or burnt alum was the most 
perfect acid ingredient used in baking powder, for the reason that in 
connection with bicarbonate of soda it forms less residual inorganic 
matter than any other class of substances. It is slow in its action and 
is far more perfect than either cream of tartar itself or any- phosphate 
in rasing bread or dough. The residual matters from alum are per- 
fectly harmless and far smaller in quantity than where cream of tar- 
tar is used. There are baking powders of commerce, but they are not 
pure alum baking jjowders. They are a mixture of, say, 75 per cent 
of alum and 25 i)er cent of phosphate baking jjowder. Of course there 
is nothing to say against the residual matters. They are substances 
that are not unwholesome, but want that excess in boiled flour. The 
alum part of the baking powder, or 75 per cent of the baking powder, 
will produce about 22 per cent of sodium sulphate, and about 3^ pev 
cent of alumina oxid. 

Cream of tartar baking ijowder produces 70 per cent of sodium 
potassium tartrate, which is the basis of Rochelle salts. The two salts, 
sodium sulphate and Rochelle salts, have about the same action on 
the human system, and one is as harmful or as harmless as the other. 
The alumina, or alumina oxide, is perfectlj^ harmless. It is insoluble 
in the gastric juice of the stomach and passes out of the system with 
the solid excrements. They do not enter the circulation or they would 
show in the urine, which it never does. The action of burnt alum in 
baking powder is very slow, for the reason that burnt alum is insol- 
uble in cold water. During the kneading of the dough it is gradually 
absorbed by the water and acts on this bicarbonate of soda, leaving 
very fine pores in the dough. It enables the baker to do his work — 
his kneading work — slowly and thoroughly, and makes a more whole- 
some food than when he has to hurry it up so as to get his dough in 
the oven as quick as possible. On the other hand, there is no danger 
whatever of any alum being left in the dough at the baking, as the 
heat of the oven hastens the reaction of water on the burnt alum very 
much, and any undecomposed alum will rapidly decompose or be 
decomftosed by the soda in the oven. The question of alum in baking 
has come up from the fact that bakers have often used a very inferior 
flour, and alum enables them to use such flour and make a flue appear- 
ing bread. The quantity of alum they use is hardly sufficient to do 
any harm at all — I might say is absolutely insufiicient to do any harm. 
The harm consists in using a wormy or poor flour and passing it out 
upon the public as a first-class bread. 

The Chairman. In brief, then, you consider alum baking powder 
as not deleterious to public health? 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 293 

Mr. PetraENS. I consider it not deleterious to public health. 
The Chairman. You base that upon analj^ses j^ou made yourself? 
Mr. Petraens. I base that upon the knowledge I found myself and 
upon experiments. 



STATEMENT OF THEODORE OEHNE. 

Mr. Theodore Oehne, JBirst duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Mr. Oehne. Theodore Oehne. 

The Chairman. Where do you reside? 

Mr. Oehne. 5401 Ellis avenue. 

The Chairman. W^hat is your business? 

Mr. Oehne. I am vice-president and treasurer of the Conrad Seipp 
Brewing Company. 

The Chairman. Do you hold any ofiicial position in an organization 
that is interested in this country'? There are national and State asso- 
ciations. 

Mr. Oehne. I hold office in a local organization. I am president of 
the Chicago and Milwaukee Brewing Association, 

The Chairman. This committee desires to take the evidence of any 
citizens and all citizens who can give information relating to the food 
and drink products of the country tliat are sold either in fraud of the 
rights of the consumer or that contain substances which are deleteri- 
ous to the public health, and I desire to ask first your oijinion as to 
the propriety of national law on this subject. Taking the subject of 
beer to start with, whether you would favor a Government inspection 
and some C-overnment regulation of the food product known as beer? 

Mr. Oehne. We certainly are not adverse to a Government inspec- 
tion. If my memory serves me right, the Retail Bottlers' Association 
has petitioned Congress to look into this question, because so much 
has been said about adulterated beer. We want this Government 
commission to settle this question fullj^ and for all times. 

The Chairman. The honest manufacturer of goods wants no favors, 
but he wants his competitors to be compelled to deal fairly with the 
people. 

Mr. Oehne. That's right. 

The Chairman. Are you familiar, Mr. Oehne, with the law in Ger- 
many or Bavaria as to the regulation of the products that might go 
into beer? Have you any general information? 

Mr. Oehne. I have got a slight general information. I am not 
familiar with the laws, however. 

The Chairman. Do they require in this country that a certain 
amount of hops or malt should be used ? Do they determine when 
malt should be used ? 

Mr. Oehne. I am not able to answer that question. I am not 
familiar enough with the question to do that. 

The Chairman. There has been a great deal said in regard to the 
use of antiseptics in beer. An antiseptic is a product that is put in 
to preserve the beer the same as salt is put in to preserve the meat or 
borax to preserve meat, and i have no evidence before this committee 
that that is used. There has been some witnesses that have stated 
it upon hearsay. I think that Dr. Wiley stated in his examination 
of beer made some j^ears ago, if my memory serves me right, that he 
found salicj'lic acid in bottled beer he analyzed in Washington. Any 



294 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

information you have on that subject you are willing to give to the 
committee you may give for its benefit. 

Mr. Oehne. In reference to the use of antiseptics in beer I have not 
any knowledge that there is any used at present. There may have 
been some used years ago, and only then in bottled beer; but some 
years ago, if my memory serves me right, I should say about seven, 
eight, nine, or ten years ago, we commenced what we call pasteuriza- 
tion. This is a process invented by Pasteur in France. After beer is 
bottled in quarts it is put in a steam tub and heated to a temperature 
of about 140 or 150° F., which it is claimed will kill and destroy all 
yeast germs or any other germs in the beer, and thoroughly prevent 
what we used to call after-fermentation, which makes the beer cloudy 
and produces a sediment. Ever since this process has been adopted I 
do not think that there are any antiseptics used. There maybe; of 
course I can't talk for any and all brewers in the United States. I do 
not think that a great per cent of the brewers use it. 

The Chairman. You can see no reason for it? 

Mr. Oehne. Absolutely no reason. 

The Chairman. This process is the same as what is called "steril- 
ization ? " 

Mr. Oehne. It is the same process as sterilization. 

The Chairman. So called on account of the name of the man who 
invented it? 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. I have got here. Senator, something from 
the "American Brewers for 1897," which touches upon this very ques- 
tion [hands the Chairman copy of paper]. It is a length}^ article. 

The Chairman. It appears to be an editorial in one of the Brewers' 
Reviews. 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman (reading from paper). "The national pure-beer law 
adapted to American conditions would not be cause for fear to any- 
body." 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That is, no fear to any honest manufacturer? 

Mr. Oehne. No, sir. 

The Chairman. In your opinion, then, the sterilization of beer — 
boiling it up to a certain degree after it is bottled — removes any 
necessity for the use of any antiseptics. 

Mr. Oehne. Absolutely so. 

The Chairman. Because it will destroy all germ life that is left 
over? 

Mr. Oehne. That has been practiced. The germs are destroyed by 
a heat of 120 degrees, and now we heat up to 140 or 150 degrees to be 
absolutely sure that nothing will remain in it. 

The Chairman. One of the experts who testified — one of the med- 
ical experts who testified, speaking of the question of a national pure- 
food law or a national board (I think it was Dr. Wilej^) — testified that 
most brewers, so far as he had observed, made hop and malt beer; 
that they also used in place of hops and malt other substances — for 
instance, like glucose, which he said was not deleterious to health, so 
far as he was questioned concerning the making of a poorer beer than 
hop and malt. 

Mr. Oehne. We are using corn and rice — raw materials — and this 
question has been before a committee of the United States Congress, 
and it has been recommended by the United States Congress that the 
use of corn is not only not detrimental, but beneficial. I have also 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 295 

got a pamphlet on that question, where an analj^sis by Dr. Wiley is 
given as to the corn question, which I will submit to you, Senator 
[hands Chairman paper]. 

The Chairman. Yes; Dr. Wiley referred to that. He stated that 
he did not know that he could get the document. 

Mr. Oehne. This is issued under the authority of the Secretary of 
Agriculture — Indian corn oi- maize in the manufacture of beer. 

The Chairman (reading from paper). "By Robert Wahl. Pub- 
lished by authority of the Department of Agriculture." This is 
not a Congressional report. 

Mr. Oehne. No; it is not. 

The Chairman. It is an article by Professor Wahl. 

Mr. Oehne. He is a man eminent in his profession, because the 
Agricultural Department issued it as an agricultural document. 

The Chairman. Has the consumer of this product, which a good 
many i)eople like, any way of knowing whether it is malt beer, what 
we call tlie old fashioned lager beer, or whether it consists of corn or 
rice? 

Mr. Oehne. No; the consumer could not know that except by 
analytical investigation. 

The Chairman. There is no mark on the package? 

Mr. Oehne. No. 

The Chairman. And all brewers make different kinds of beer to 
suit the different taste. 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir; there is a different demand. Some like it 
dark and some light. Our business has taught us in the last ten or 
twelve years that a pure malt beer is almost unsalable in this coun- 
try; it is too strong and heavy; the people want a lighter beer and 
this light beer could not be iwoduced by using pure malt. Pure malt 
beer is a strong, heavy beer. 

The Chairman. So each brewer has to make different kinds and 
grades of beer. 

Mr. Oehne. Some brewers do, others do not. 

The Chairman. Would it be your idea that if we could have a 
Government commission so that there would be some regulation as to 
the manufacture of the beer itself — you would not think it wise to 
have the Government expert tell the manufacturers what kind of beer 
to make, whether it should be corn, or malt, or hops; you would not 
expect that? 

Mr. Oehne. If we could have a commission which will recommend 
the American way of making beer, and which has been highly com- 
mented on in 1893 by European experts at the World's Fair, there 
would be no objection. It would certainly be very unwise for any gov- 
ernment commission to go to work to-day after the manufacture of 
beer has progressed, to come and say you can't use anything but hops 
and malt, because we would have to produce a beer which would be 
unsalable almost. We claim the use of rice and corn is beneficial. 
It is certainly not detrimental. It is the other way. It makes a beer 
which is more palatable and which is healthy. There is not anything 
but God's product in it. No chemicals, and under our process of 
manufacture there is no reason to-day why rice and hops and corn 
and glucose vshould not be used. 

The Chairman. Glucose is corn? 

Mr. Oehne. It is a corn product. 

The Chairman. And you have got to get glucose out of the corn 
before you make beer? 



296 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I don't want to ask you abont other people's busi- 
ness. You have been very fair about your own process. Why is it, 
if you can tell nie, there is a certain class of cheap beer on the market, 
and it has an important use, which is made by a cheaper or shorter 
process, or by cheaper material. Certainly all the beers that are 
made in this country are not of the same grade and the same price ? 

Mr. Oehne. No. 

The Chairman. Some well-known beers are very cheap. They are 
not alwaj's favorably known. There is a cheap waj^ of making i3eer. 

JVIr. Oehne. There is no cheaper way of making beer. But there 
is a wa.y of making cheaper material. You can l)uy cheap Ijarley and 
high-priceil barley, and you can buy cheap hops and high-priced hops. 
That will make a difference; otherwise the process is tlie same thing. 
You might take a little more material or a little less material. 

The Chairman. Now, there is no law either State oi- national to fix 
the strength of hops or the kind of malt to be used in beer. There 
is none now to my knoMdedge. Is it your recollection that that is fixed 
by European laws'? 

Mr. Oehne. I think so. I think there used to be a law here t%venty 
or twenty-five years ago. Brewers were compelled to take a certain 
amount of malt and barley in making beer. I noticed in the paper this 
morning that Dr. Stringfield stated yesterday that from his knowledge 
of beer it was adulterated with salicylic acid. I want to say a few 
words 

The Chairman. I want j^ou to be correctly informed as to his 
statement. 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Because he stated that he had not made any 
analysis. 

Mr. Oehne. His belief was that a majority of the beer was 

The Chairman. It was generally stated so. He did not give any 
definite information on the subject except some time ago he had a 
patient Avho seemed to be affected in that way. I want you to be per- 
fectly informed what he said. I will be very glad to have your state- 
ment. 

Mr. Oehne. Now, in reference to the use of salicjdic acid. In 
former years there may have been some used; there may be some used 
yet by a few brewers but this is certainly only used in i^reserving 
bottled beer. There is not 5 per cent of the beer brewed in the United 
States which is bottled. It is sold in barrels. There is no acid in 
barreled beer; there is no occasion for it. There may be some in bot- 
tled beer, but just as I stated I do not think that there is more than 
5 per cent of the beer brewed in the United States that is bottled. So 
if the statement is made that a large proportion of all the beer brewed 
in the United States contains salicylic acid it is erroneous. That is 
only used for bottled beer, and hence does not contain but little. I 
do not think that 10 per cent of the beer to-day contains any salicjdic 
acid. Of my own knowledge I do not know. 

The Chairman. Well, j'-ou do not see any benefit to be obtained b}'^ 
using it, you say, after this sterilizing process? 

Mr. Oehne. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Well, all of the beer— you believe this cheap beer 
made of cheap hops — and you know, of coui'se, that there might be 
one pound of hops on this side of the table and another pound on the 
other side over there, and one would produce twice or three times as 



I 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 297 

mucTi flavoring value as the other would. Is it true that cheaper 
beer made of hops, cheap or uuripe or unperfect hops and barley 
say — is it not true that that class of beer may need the use of some 
preservative? 

Mr. Oehne. No. 

The Chairman. You think that the sterilizing process would per- 
fect that beer for the market? 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, it would. The only difference would be in the 
percentage of alcohol in the beer. The better material you take, the 
stronger beer you can produce. The beer contains more alcohol. 

TJie Chairman. The alcohol is really the preservative of beer, 
after all. 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It runs from four to five or six per cent, as a rule. 
It simply 

Mr. Oehne. Four or five or six. Sometimes a little less. 

The Chairman. It requires a small per cent of alcohol, even after 
the sterilizing process. It would not be safe — you can't make beer 
without some alcohol? 

Mr. Oehne. The fact of fermentation is the fact that produces the 
alcohol. 

The Chairman. Then so far as you know, and so far as your opin- 
ion goes, there is no salicylic acid used in beer except in bottled beer? 

Mr. Oehne. Not to my personal knowledge. 

The Chairman. While there may be a very small per cent, you can 
see no reason why it should be used at all? 

Mr. Oehne. No. 

The Chairman. Have you any other article from men well known 
in the scientific world as to the danger or the safety of the use of 
other ingredients besides barley, malt, and hops in beer? In your 
opinion, you say that the other is just as good and just as lie ilthy — 
glucose the same. 

Mr. Oehne. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you finy scientific opinion, or do you know 
of anything that you could furnish the Committee with to the effect 
that it would be just as good for the public health as pure malt beer? 

Mr. Oehne. I think I could; yes. Not this minute, but in a week 
or so I think I could get it. 

The Chairman. I think that is all. I am very much obliged. 

STATEMENT OF ERNEST FECKER, JR. 

Mr. Ernest Fecker, Jr., first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 
Mr. Fecker. Ernest Fecker, jr. 
The Chairman. Where do you live? 
Mr. Fecker. Twenty-three Lincoln place. 
The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Fecker. Manager of the United States Brewing Company. 
The Chairman. Where is that located? 

Mr. Fecker. We have different breweries; the main branch is at 
67 Larabee street, Chicago. 
The Chairman. Are you a practical brewer? 
Mr. Fecker. Yes, sir. 
The Chairman. You understand the business in all its branches? 



298 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Fecker. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What do you say, Mr. Fecker, as to the propriety 
of having some national legislation in regard to the protection of 
manufacturers? 

Mr. Fecker. I have been one of those favoring a petition. I have 
been one of the originators of that petition, and I am consequently in 
favor of it. 

The Chairman. Do you remember when you made that petition? 

Mr. Fecker. It wasabout the last of December, I think. 

The Chairman. You feel that some general law would be beneficial? 

Mr. Fecker. It would be a benefit to our business to prevent the 
prejudice that seems to exist among a majority of the people as to 
our business. 

The Chairman. Where was that petition presented? 

Mr. Fecker. I think it was drawn up in New York in December. 

The Chairman. And presented to Congress last session? 

Mr. Fecker, Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That was the impression I had, that you people 
wanted a pure-beer bill, like, as this editorial says, on the American 
plan. In the use of alcohol in the manufacture of beer do you use 
any salicjdic acid? ^ 

Mr. Fecker. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservative? 

Mr. Fecker. We do not use any, and we have not used anj^ for 
years, as there is no occasion to use it. Years ago it might have been 
used, but with the machinery we have to-day it becomes unnecessary 
if the beer is not subjected to the change of temperature. It might 
have been used before we had ice machines, but with their use we 
now keep an even temj)erature. There is a less degree of fermenta- 
tion, which is only produced by the yeast. 

The Chairman. The yeast is the flavoring power? 

Mr. Fecker. We put in materials to keep it with. 

The Chairman. What process do you use? 

Mr, Fecker. As Mr. Oehne testified. Pasteurization is the way to 
preserve beer. I would heartily indorse everything he has said in 
that way. 

The Chairman. You do not know of anyone now using salicylic 
acid in beer? 

Mr. Fecker. It would be a waste of money to use it; its cost would 
simply be a waste of that much money. 

The Chairman. This Pasteurization takes away the necessity? 

Mr. Fecker. Yes; before that salicylic acid was used. 

The Chairman. Are you familiar, or have you learned by reading 
or hearsay, whether or not the European laws — take Bavaria, or any 
German country — whether or not they have a law which compels a 
certain amount of hops and malt in, say, a barrel o^' beer? 

Mr. Fecker. If I have the correct knowledge of the law it does not 
restrict them as to the quantity used. I believe it compels the use of 
malt and hops, but there is no restriction as to the quantity. 

The Chairman. Does it prohibit the use of corn and rice? 

Mr. Fecker. It does prohibit the use of corn, I believe, in Austria. 
They tax it by the strength of the beer — by the quantity of malt and 
the strength. There is no law there regulating the amount to be used. 

The Chairman. When the tax is paid the retailer knows the 
strength of wliat he is buying, because it has to pass through a Gov- 
ernment test. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 299 

Mr. Fecker. After it is bottled, in Austria, they tax it then. Before 
they ever know whether it becomes a finished product or not. It may 
spoil. If I have the correct information, that is it. They tax it by 
what they call the saccharometer test, whereby they test its strength. 

The Chairman. They put a tax on it according to the beer — its 
degree of strength? 

Mr. Fecker. Yes, sir; if I have the correct knowledge of the law. 

The Chairman. That is only just your recollection? 

Mr. Fecker. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. For my information I am going to get those laws 
and have them translated and see. The American people do not 
drink that kind of beer, do they; they do not care for the strength of 
the pure hop beer? 

Mr. Fecker. I would define the strength of corn beer and malt 
beer in a different way. The corn beer has a vinous character, and 
for that reason it is more palatable. It is lighter to the tongue and 
more pleasing than the malt beer. The degree of fermentation is not 
as high as that of malt beer, and that is why the public to-day in choos- 
ing between the two beers will choose the corn beer every time. While 
its strength is not any heavier, malt beer is not any heavier beer than 
corn beer, providing the same man would make it, but the degree of 
fermentation is higher in one case than in the other and consequently 
the character of the taste is different. 

The Chairman. Do you see any reason why in buying a cheaper 
grade of beer made of a cheaper hop or a cheaper malt, there would 
be any use for a preservative? 

Mr. Fecker. No, sir; because the process of protection would be 
the same, the manufacture would be the same, and there is no reason, 
as I can see, why, if a careful man would handle it, there should be 
any use for a preservative any more in the one case than in the other. 

The Chairman. Do j^ou know any reason why there should be any 
difference in the actual value of beer — the actual difference? I am 
not talking about the difference that might be brought about by adver- 
tising. Do you know of any reason why there should be any differ- 
ence in the value, except in the raw material, the labor being the same? 

Mr. Fecker. I do not see any. 

The Chairman. In your opinion a beer that is really made cheap is 
made cheap because of the cheaper material? 

Mr. Fecker. A cheaper material? 

The Chairman. Have you produced a beer with malt, containing a 
small amount of the extract of hops? 

Mr. Fecker. Malt would not contain an extract of hops. If you 
take hops and take the same pound of hops — one pound would contain 
a certain per cent of hop extract and another pound would contain 
say 50 per cent. You could take a cheaper hop or a weaker hop 
and make the same amount of beer. You would not get the same 
barrel of beer because you might have a good pound of hops and 
there would be a difference in the hop flavor. The cheaper might 
answer. 

The Chairman. It would produce fermentation? 

Mr. Fecker. It would produce the hops you were looking for and 
would be giving a flavor. 

The Chairman. Wouldn't you have to use twice as many hops? 

Mr. Fecker. No; the finished product would not have as good a 
flavor, while the good hop would leave a nice flavor. 

The Chairman. That is all. 



300 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



STATEMENT OF C. HERMAN PLAUTZ. 

Mr. C. Herman Plautz, first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name ? 

Mr. Plautz. C. Herman Plautz. 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Mr. Plautz. I live at 731 North Hoyne avenue. 

The Chairman. What is your occupation? 

Mr. Plautz. I am secretary of the United Brewing Company. 

The Chairman. Secretary of the United Brewing Company ? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You have been a resident of Chicago a great many 
years and held public office here ? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir; since 1867. 

The Chairman. What public office have you held? 

Mr. Plautz. I have held the office of city clerk and city treasurer. 

The Chairman. Are you a practical brewer? Do you know any- 
thing about the brewing business generally ? 

Mr. Plautz. I am a practical brewer; I know the business, having 
been engaged in it for the last ten years. 

The Chairman. Where is your factory in Chicago, or brewerj^? 

Mr. Plautz. We have thirteen plants, and they are located in 
various parts of the city. 

The Chairman. Well, Mr. Plautz, there has been some talk here 
about the use of salicylic acid for preserving bottled beer. I think I 
have had no evidence that there is any salicylic acid used but in 
bottled beer. What is your opinion on that subject, and what are 
the facts so far as you know them? 

Mr. Plautz. So far as I know there is no need of using any sali- 
cylic acid or preservative of any kind in keg or bottled beer. 

Tlie Chairman. Why? 

Mr. Plautz. The process of pasteurization is sufficient to preserve 
the beer for the length of time it is necessary until it is consumed. 
If we were to export bottled beer, say to some southern climate, it 
would probably be well then to use a little salicylic acid in it as an 
additional preservative, but inasmuch as our beer is principally drank 
in this country I do not think it necessary at all. 

The Chairman. Then you think there maj^ be a condition where a 
change of climate and shipment and constant agitation for a length 
of time would require some preservative? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir; I think that all beos that are imported into 
this countrj^ from abroad contain a very little salicylic acid. We 
would have to do the same thing if we were to export beer into a for- 
eign country. 

The Chairman. There was a gentleman who testified yesterday 
morning who was an importer of beer and he said that they did not 
use any; that the government there in Bavaria prohibited the use. 

Mr. Plautz. The government prohibits the use in their countrj?-. 
It would not j)roliibit it if it were to be exported. 

The Chairman. It makes a difference who the consumers are? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. That is the coffee question? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 301 

The Chairman. Mr. Plautz, you and all of these organizations and 
brewers — you must consume a great deal of the raw material? 

Mr. Plautz. We do. 

The Chairman. Malt and hops and corn and rice, these are the 
articles that you use? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Did you hear what the gentleman said who was 
just on the stand in regard to a national law for the inspection of 
beer? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes; I heard that. 

The Chairman. What would you say as to that; does that meet 
with your approval? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, it does; I think that it would be a good thing 
for the brewery interest, because it would remove the prejudice that 
a great manj^ people have against the use of beer. 

The Chairman. And it would also give — if it was under a Govern- 
ment inspection it would give a certain character to the product itself 
which you could not get in any other way? 

Mr, Plautz. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And if there are those who are using cheap and 
adulterated materials it would reach them, and in that way benefit 
the honest manufacturer, wouldn't it? 

Mr. Plautz. Well, there are no adulterations used in the manu- 
facture of beer. You can use only a lower grade of material, but it 
would not be adulterated beer; it would be a cheaper grade of beer. 

The Chairman. The same as a cheaper grade of flour where they 
use the number 2 wheat instead of number 1? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you have any recollection of any of the Euro- 
pean laws — I will not take but just a minute — as to whether or not 
they specify that a certain amount of malt or hops must be used? 

Mr. Plautz. I believe the Bavarian law requires that. 

The Chairman. And does it not prohibit the use of corn and rice? 

Mr. Plautz. In Bavaria — and in other European countries, in fact — 
there is a great deal of corn goods exported to Europe and used there 
in the manufacture of beer. 

The Chairman. There is a great deal of our glucose shipped there? 

Mr. Plautz. No; the corn product, the same as we call "grits," 
which is a preparation made out of corn in a granular form, and it is 
used for the purx)ose of making beer. 

The Chairman. I think that is all, except I want to be sure I have 
this question : As far as you believe — and you are secretary of some- 
thing like thirteen breweries — you know of no case in any of the 
breweries where they use preservatives like salicylic acid? 

Mr. Plautz. I know of not one. 

The Chairman. The only preservative you use is the natural alco- 
hol in the beer? 

Mr. Plautz. To form the process of fermentation. 

The Chairman. And the sterilizing process? 

Mr. Plautz. Yes, sir. 



302 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

June 8, 1899—10 o'clock a. m. 
The committee met. 
Present, the Chairman. 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM F. FAULKNER. 

William F, Faulkner, being duly sworn, in response to questions 
by the Chairman, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is j^our name and occupation? 

Answer. William F. Faulkner; 2929 South Park avenue. 

Q. And your business? — A. Superintendent for Kehoe & Co. 

Q. What is their business? — A. Confectioners. 

Q. What are your duties in connection with that company? — A. 
Overlooking the manufacture of candy. 

Q. You superintend every part of it from the beginning to the 
end? — A. Yes, sir; the manufacturing part. 

Q. You know what goes into the manufacture of the candy in that 
establishment? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you personally see that the mixture is made? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Now, Mr. Witness, the committee does not want to get any 
firm's trade secrets. We don't want to interfere with any legitimate 
business. The resolution directs us to find out what food is manu- 
factured in fraud of the rights of the people and what, if any, foods 
are deleterious to health. How long have you been a superintendent 
in this factory? — A. Ten years. 

Q. You have some general information as to the materials used in 
other factories also ? — A. No, sir. 

Q. You have heard, I suppose? — A. No; not anj^thing. 

Q. Then, if you can, without interfering with your prospects of 
employment, give to the committee what you use in the manufacture 
of confectionery by Kehoe & Co., I wish you would. — A. What par- 
ticular branch ? What particular kind ? 

Q. Well, just give the ingredients of all of the common kinds of 
cand3^ — A. Sugar and cream of tartar and coloring matter. The col- 
oring matter we buy from Germany. It is passed on bj^ tlie Imperial 
Government of Germany. It is purely vegetable. 

Q. Have you ever used aniline dyes? — A. No, sir. 

Q. This coloring which you say you use is purely a vegetable color- 
ing? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you stated all that you use in the manufacture of candy ? — 
A. Acids. 

Q. What kind of acids? — A. Citric acid and tartaric acid. 

Q. Are you a chemist? — A. No, sir. 

Q. When you say you use citric acid and tartaric acid, then you 
simply use what you suppose to be citric acid and tartaric acid? — A. 
It is bought for citric acid and tartaric acid. 

Q. That is what j^ou buy it for. Did you serve an apprenticeship 
at your trade? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. With whom did you serve? — A. Kehoe & Co. 

Q. You think you have now stated all of the things that you use? 
The coloring matter, you say, is imported from Germany and which 
you are informed and believe is purely vegetable? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you use no aniline dyes? — A. Not any. 

Q. You use sugar? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What kind of sugar do you use? — A. Mold A sugar. 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 303 

Q. That is a cane sugar? — A. Haveineyer's Mold A sugar. 

Q. Do you use any glucose? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know anything about the kind of glucose that 3'^ou use? — 
A. Well, we use the best kind of glucose. 

Q. You are not a chemist? — A. No, sir. 

Q. You couldn't analyze it? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you use any starch? — A. To make the molds with. 

Q. To make what?— A. Molds. 

Q. AYell, to make candy? — A. No, sir; not a particle. 

Q. Not a particle to make candy with? — A. No, sir; but to form 
the molds. 

Q. Do you use any flour? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Neither flour nor starch? — A. No, sir. 

Q. You make a general variety of candy, do you? — A. Retail candy; 
yes, sir. 

Q. Just for retail? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Then you don't manufacture it to sell at wholesale? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you use any terra alba? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know what that is? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have seen it used? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Never heard of its being used in confectionery? — A. Not in the 
city. 

Q. Where have you heard of its being used? — A. St. Louis. 

Q. What would be the object of using terra alba? — A. To give 
weight to the candy. 

Q. Have you stated all the kinds of acids you use in the manufac- 
ture of candy? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where is the glucose manufactured that you use? — A. By the 
American Glucose Works. 

Q. Here in Chicago? — A. I believe it is in Chicago. 

Q. It is called grape sugar? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Or corn sugar? — A. No, sir; it is just called glucose. 

Q. Just called glucose. You don't use any of what is known as 
flourine? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Or corn flour? — A. No, sir. 

The Chairman. I believe that is all. 



STATEMENT OF CHARLES F. GUNTHER. 

Charles F. Ounther, being first duly sworn, in res£)onse to ques- 
tions by the chairman, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name, residence, and occupation? 

Answer. Charles F. Gunther. Occupation, confectioner. Business 
address, 212 State street. 

Q. Before that you were in McVicker's Theater? — A. Yes, sir; and 
before the fire we were on Clark street. After the fire we were on the 
corner of Twentieth and State streets, and then came to McVicker's. 

Q. How long have you been in your present business? — A. Since 
1863. That is, in the business. 

Q. You manufacture for the retail trade? — A. Retail and whole- 
sale both. 

Q. You manufacture both for the wholesale and retail trade? — -A. 
Yes. Our wholesale goods are identically the same as we sell for 
retail. We make no discrimination. We get better prices 



304 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. By retailing, of course. — A. In our wholesale goods we. don't try 
to meet what we call ordinary competition. We fix our own prices 
and make our own goods. 

The Chairman. This committee, Mr. Gunther, is instructed by the 
Senate of the United States to take up all questions of food and drink, 
and we consider confections a very important one, in view of its com- 
mon use among the people, and I should say to you at the start that 
we have no desire to inquire into your trade secrets or to go beyond 
the scope of the resolution in any way. They want us to furnish 
them evidences of where goods are sold in fraud — that is, where a cer- 
tain class of goods is sold for a different class. Also, and more par- 
ticularly, to determine what, if any, adulterants or compounds are 
used that are deleterious to public health. 

The Witness. I wish to say this, Mr. Chairman, that the confec- 
tioners' trade tliroughout the United States recognizes and knows the 
fact that there have been a great deal of deleterious substances and 
adulterations and inferior confectionery sold in this country years 
ago. Throughout the United States they have formed tliemselves 
into an association called the Confectioners' Association of the United 
States, with the sole object in view of shutting out and putting down 
every man who uses anything that is deleterious in our business, from 
the fact, not only from a humanitarian standpoint, but from the fact 
that announcement in the press or in general public information that 
confectionery was injurious. It was detrimental to the trade and an 
injury to the trade. Now, in doing this, in forming this association, 
the idea was to enlarge the trade and to disabuse the minds of the 
American people that there was anything sold in the way of confec- 
tionery, by the trade in general, tliat was injurious or deleterious, 
but, on the contrary, beneficial. We hold that good confectionery is 
beneficial and that sugar is beneficial. 

The Chairman. Well, I should say to you right there that Dr. 
Wiley, and in fact every scientific man who has testified, agrees with 
you, from a scientific standpoint, that sugar is very nutritious to a 
great 

Answer. From the fact that to-day the European armies — part of 
their rations is sugar now, esiiecially in the German arni}^, which is 
probably the best looked after of any army in the world. We have 
formed an association, which has been in existence — the first meeting 
was held in Chicago — it must have been about ten or fifteen years ago. 
And there all tlie leading confectioners joined, and they exist to-day, 
and have annual meetings for the purpose of prosecuting anybody 
that we find in any State or anywhere who makes anything injurious. 
We have committees in every State, and have also — this general con- 
fectioners' association of the United States has caused various States 
to pass laws in favor of the association's purposes. Since then I know 
of no one in the trade generally who is using — anyone that we know 
of who is using— anything that is injurious; anyone who uses mineral 
colors, or these aniline colors, or terra alba, or the ethereal flavors; 
they have all been tabooed. 

Q. If they use them at all, they do it without the knowledge of the 
association? — A. Yes. And another thing we do. Where the asso- 
ciation hears anywhere, or where there is a report made that some 
one has got sick, or some child has got sick eating candy, if any child 
that has gotten sick has had any candy within twenty-four or forty- 
eight hours before that, the doctor comes to the conclusion that it 
must have been the candy that made the child sick. So that case is 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD FKODUCTS. 305 

at once investigated, and, as a rule, we find the first announcement 
was erroneous, or that that wasn't the fact at all. The fact is that 
anybody eating candy, if they were going to be sick over it, they would 
])e sick within from fifteen minutes to half an hour, because as soon 
as digestion sets in, if there is anything deleterious about it, it takes 
effect immediately, and does not take effect from twenty-four to forty- 
eight hours after. And for that reason I speak of this association, 
because it is a great thing for this country. Since then vegetable 
colorings of all kinds have l)een used by the whole trade, both whole- 
sale and retail, to the best of my knowledge. 

Q. You mean that the association constitutes a large majority of 
the confectioners of the couutrj^? — A. Pretty nearly all of them. 
Almost every reputable confectioner in this country is in it. There 
is occasionally one who is not in it, but if he does anything that isn't 
correct, of course the association is after him. Those are the very 
men we want to look after — the man who will not come into the 
association; that's the man we want to watch. 

Q. And the fellow who is in the association you don't get much 
opportunity to watch? — A. Well, on general principles they are hon- 
orable men. There is no class of men I know of in any trade who are 
more honorable than the wholesale confectioners of this country. 
There are a few small-fry fellows who work in cellars and one thing 
and another who make up cheap stuff; but there is nothing in it. 

Q. Isn't it customary to consider it perfectly healthy to use a cer- 
tain amount of starch in the maniifacture of candy? — A. That is 
another thing. Starch isn't used in candies proper. C-ornstarch is 
used in making what they call fig i^aste — that class of goods. Starch 
pudding is made in the same way; that is, of about the same material. 
There are so-called fig pastes, Greek or oriental or Turkish pastes, 
and gum drops of the same material, Avhich are simply an imitation 
of the genuine gum drop, because they are cheaper. Starch is cheap. 
They are perfectly wholesome, just as wholesome as the bread we eat. 
There is nothing to it except cornstarch, and it is the same as eat- 
ing cornstarch pudding or anything of that kind. 

Q. There is a good deal of what is known and called cornstarch; 
that is a by-product of the glucose factory, and called flourine. 
Have you ever known of their using that of late years? — A. No. 
Starch is so cheap that I don't see what the}^ could use any cheaper 
than starch, from the fact, of which you are probably not aware, 
that starch is an absorbent of water, largely. Now, water is about 
as cheap as anything j^ou can get, and of course starch takes up a 
little of the water; so that it wouldn't pay to get any outside stuff. 
In the first place, they don't know how to handle it. They under- 
stand the manipulation of starch and they don't understand the 
manipulation of these other things. 

Q. These dyes are vegetable dyes, you say? — A. Yes; all of them. 
And I want to say another thing, which is true, and it is a good thing 
for the country, that since these manufacturers have aimed at and 
are getting up what we call vegetable colors, and which they announce 
also in their announcements and advertisements have been analyzed 
by the first clfemists of the country, who certify to their purity as 
being genuine vegetable colors — all of the manufacturers do that. 
Not one of the manufacturers of the country comes out without a lot 
of certificates of chemical tests to prove that his goods are made with 
vegetable colors and are harmless. 

Q. What sort of acids are used in the manufacture of confection- 
F P 20 



306 ADULTERATION .OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

ery? — A. There is veiy little acid used in anything except, for instance, 
in acidulated goods. Lemon di'ops, or something of that kind, have 
a little acid flavor to them. They generall}^ iise for that citric or tar- 
taric acid. 

Q. Citric acid means an acid from citrus fruit? — A. Yes. 

Q. Like the lemon or citron? — A. Yes; the citrus fruit. 

Q. And tartaric acid is A. Tartaric acid is a precipitate of 

the wine of the gi-ape in the casks. 

Q. That is what they make cream of tartar from? — A. Yes; and 
crystals are formed from that and then it is ground up. The confec- 
tioner has to buy the purest and best because he knows he gets what 
he pays for ; but there is more or less of that kind of goods on the 
market. That is tartaric acid or citric acid that is adulterated with 
probably harmless stuff, but at the same time it is sold cheaper than 
the straight goods. 

Q. It is cheaper whether it is sold cheaper or not? It is adulte- 
rated? — A. Yes; it is adulterated, but the trade can't use that. We 
have to use the pure thing. 

Q. It is a physical necessitj^? — A. Yes; because the less i^owder of 
any kind you get into the article the clearer and the better it will be. 
In other words, you don't want to make it opaque. It wants to be 
transparent, and to do that the less you get in the better. At the 
same time, we know very well that if you wish a certain amount of 
sour, you have got to simply pay for what you get. 

Q, You would consider, would you, Mr. Gunther, national legisla- 
tion upon this subject of benefit to the people, and at the same time a 
protection to the honest manufacturer? — A. Yes, sir; there is no doubt 
about it. 

Q. And you would be in favor of national regulation of this sub- 
.ject? — A. Yes, sir; I think it is a grand thing. We have it now in 
the whole country, with a few exceptions, as State laws. 

Q. There is hardly ever any prosecution under the State law, is 
there, though? — A. No, very seldom. We never hear of any. 

Q. And, as a rule, the ordinary citizen has a little more respect for 
a national law than he has for a State law? — A. Yes, that's right. 

Q. Have you anything else to say that occurs to you, Mr. Gunther? — 
A, I wanted to say another thing. It is about this acid question. 
Cream of tartar — you might call it an acid; it is to some extent — 
cream of tartar has been very much done away with in the making of 
candies of all kinds, because glucose will answer the same purpose 
and is freer from acid, and makes better goods than the cream-of- 
tartar goods, because glucose is noncrystallizable, and in fact, it is a 
benefit to the trade and a benefit to the public. 

Q. And perfectly healthy? — A. Yes, and answers the purpose and 
is cheaper, too. There has been a great increase in this country of 
chocolate. The increase, I believe, in the last few years, is 50 i)ei* 
cent or 100 per cent, and it is of benefit to the country and people to 
consume some chocolate, because it is a food as well as a flavor. 

Q. There is a good deal of adulteration in chocolate? — A. Yes, there 
is or can be. 

Q. Howls that adulterated? — A. Oh, by using flour in it; that's all. 
Thin it down. 

Q. Flourine? — A. No, not flourine; common flour. 

Q. Putting flour in? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. It simply weakens it? — A. That's all; thins it down. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 807 

Q. Bi.t doesn't put in anytliini;- that is deleterious to health? — A. 
Oh, no. 

Q. How long since you have heard of terra alba being used in con- 
fectionery? — A. I don't remember hearing of it for ten or fifteen 
years — since this association started. Since then it seems to have 
disappeared. 

Q. I suppose the question could be accurately determined if I should 
take the Government chemist and buy samples in different i^laces 
and liave them analyzed? — A. Yes. There is this, too, about candy. 
Everybody thinks candy is all sugar. Now, candy is not all sugar, 
because candy, like cake, is all flour. You will pay 20 or 30 or 40 
cents a pound for fruit cake. It is flour, but that is simpl}^ the body 
of it. The same svay with candy. We sell a good article, absolutely 
pure, wholesome, nice cand}-, for 15 cents a pound, and it is good 
candy; none better; but it is all sugar, practically; whereas, the higher 
grades of candies are made up of all kinds of pulps of fruits and nuts 
and combinations that go to form these pastes. They cost lots of 
mone}'. So you will find in eating nice candj^ that it is not all sugar; 
that it is the things that go in toward making it up that makes good 
cand}'. 

Q. And in making that there is a good deal of extra cost in the 
labor? — A. Yes, and everj^thing else connected with it. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN BERRY. 

John Berry, being first dulj^ sworn, in response to questions by 
the chairman, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name, residence, and occupation? 

Answer. John Berry; 88 Warren avenue is where I live. Myx)lace 
of business is on State street, at Adams and State, 201 State; also 174. 

Q. I think you were not here when I said to the gentleman who pre- 
ceded you that I want simply to get the facts as to the adulteration 
of all food products. We have no desire to pry into trade secrets or 
interfere with anj' legitimate business, and if any question seems to 
you as leading into j^our private business you ma}'' say so and I will 
withdraw the question. Are j'ou a confectioner? — A. Yes sir. 

Q. Did 3^ou serve an apprenticeship at manufacturing yourself? — A. 
No, I never did. 

Q. But you understand about everything that goes into your fac- 
tory? — A. Yes; generally speaking, I do. 

Q. You are the manager of that business, are you not? — A. Yes, 
sir. Formerly I used to make my own candies, but I never served 
any time on it. 

Q. You have been at it some time? — A. Yes; since 1874, in Chicago. 

Q. Will you state briefly to the committee, so we can put it in the 
record, what ingredients are used in your factory in the manufacture 
of candy, in a general waj"? I don't care for all the details. — A. Of 
course the bod}' of all candies, .as we know, is sugar, and next to that 
comes glucose. 

Q. Which is another kind of sugar? — A. Well, yes; it is a sub- 
stance which we understand comes from corn, but it hasn't got the 
sweetness of sugar. It has more or less body, so that it takes the 
place of the weight of the sugar. I don't believe it is at all injurious, 
but of course if it was all glucose there would be very little taste to 
the candy. 



308 ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. You have to mix glucose with caiie sugar, do you? — A. Yes. 

Q. You use what is ordinarily called cane sugar? — A. Yes, sir; 
Havemeyer's Diamond A, Crystal A, sugar. 

Q. Do you use any acids? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. What sort and kind? — A. We use the tartaric acid and the 
citric acid. 

Q. And what coloring matters? — A. Just vegetable coloring matters. 
Burnett's we use. 

Q. Are those made here in Chicago? — A. I believe they are; yes, 
sir. Colorings all come in bottles now. We have 4 and 8 ounce 
bottles, and they are all stamped, and they seem to be a great deal 
more particular now with colors than they used to be. They send 
written guarantees with them, saying that they are perfectly noninju- 
rious formulas and made from vegetables. 

Q. How long since you heard of the use of terra alba? — A. O, not 
for eight or ten years. 

Q. The trade itself, as Mr. Gunther says, started a crusade against 
the use of that? — A. Yes; anybody we ever heard of who would use 
terra alba there was a fund of money in the treasury of the Confec- 
tioners' Association to prosecute those people, because they thought 
it was injurious. It is an earthy substance, as I understand, and it 
would sink and settle in the stomach and finally kill them if thej' 
used it much. 

Q. Do you use any starch? — A. No, sir; only as molding — to form the 
molds, you know. We run the cream when it is soft into the starch 
molds and it does not run through there, but it remains there just 
like sand does for the molders; the same principle. 

The Chairman. I don't think of anything else but what has been 
gone over. If you have any suggestions to make we would be glad to 
have them. 

The Witness. There is a great deal of molasses that goes into con- 
fectionery. I think there is more molasses than anything, after the 
sugar and glucose; and in weight I think the next article would be 
peanuts, and everybody knows what peanuts are. They come from 
the South, and they are pretty nice eating when you get them all 
right. There are lots of dates, and figs, and raisins, and currants 
that are used in the candy business. 

Q. As a rule you have to get the best? — A. Well, yes; we aim to 
get the best. We buy the most expensive figs and raisins we can 
get. There is a little machine which takes the seeds out, and then 
we either dip them in cream or chocolate, which makes a very nice 
eating confection. We pay as high as 22 cents a pound for figs. 
There is a little stem to every fig. We take those off and grind them 
up and make centers of them. We have a pistachio nut that costs 
$1.25 a pound. It comes from Europe. They go into nougats. Thej- 
are in some of the chocolates. It is a green nut. I have heard them 
spoken of as one of the poisonous colors in the pistachio — that it was 
colored green. 

Q. That is the natural color of the nut? — A. Yes; we buy it for that 
color, because it is so different. We don't sell a great deal of the 
green-colored candy unless it be on St. Patrick's Day. We try to 
make a little display on that day. It is not injurious at all, but some 
people will not buy it. 

Q. That is colored, you say, with the vegetable colors? — A. With a 
vegetable green. 

Q. You don't know how these colors are made? — A. No, sir; I do 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 309 

not. They are made here in Chicago, I believe. There are imported 
vegetable colors — qnite a number of them. 

Q. It is claimed nov/ that all the coloring for confectionery is 
derived from vegetable sources? — A. Yes. I should think if the 
Government examiner would get hold of some of these colors and give 
them a thorough test that would settle the question. Half a dozen 
of the big firms As Mr. Gunther said, the body of cakes is flour. 
In our preparations we put in all the best kinds of fruits we can get; 
also fresh fruits and jellies and jams. It is the object to make the 
candy look as pretty and beautiful as it can be, and to cater to the 
palate. 

Q. In using jellies and jams j^ou don't buy those ready made? You 
make those yourself? — A. Generally we make them ourselves. We 
get the crop when in season. We get strawberries, raspberries, and 
pineapples and boil them up and put them in jars. 

STATEMENT OF M. SHIELDS. 

M. Shields, being first duly sworn, in response to questions by the 
chairman, testified as follows : 

The Chairman. Will you state your name, residence, and occupa- 
tion? 

Answer. M. Shields, of the firm of M. Shields & Co. ; 43 and 45 
State street. 

Q. How long have you been a confectioner? — A. Since 1870. 

Q. Are you a practical man in your own factory? I mean could 
you go into the factory and do any part of the work? — A. Yes ; I could 
go in and do almost anything. I don't do it, though. I oversee to a 
certain extent. 

Q. I want to show your experience in the business. Have you 
worked at it as a trade? — A. Never ; only overseeing it. I have always 
had a factory of my own. 

Q. You buy your own ingredients that go into the factory? — A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. You j)ersonally know what the ingredients of your goods are 
before they go out? — A. Yes, sir; everything is of the very best that 
money can purchase. 

Q. You don't use terra alba in any capacitj^ in your factory? — A. 
No, sir; and I don't know of anyone that does in the city or outside 
of the city at present. 

Q. Do you remember in your earlier life as a confectioner that that 
was one of the ingredients used? — A. It was only used principallj" in 
stick candy and drops, which were sent to the Western and Southern 
trade. There was but very little of it used in the Northern trade; but 
the National Association of Confectioners has done away with all 
that. They have done away with it, I should say, for about fifteen 
years. Mr. Gunther said, though, it was from ten to twelve; but I 
think it is fifteen years ago that they did away with it. Now, if there 
is anybody using it, it is done on the sly and unknown to the authori- 
ties, because if we heard of it we certainly would report it. 

Q. Whatever is for the interest of the people is for the interest, of 
course, of the man who is an honest manufacturer and confectioner? — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And you would favor a national law that would protect the con- 
sumer and at the same time protect the honest manufacturer? — A. 
Yes sir; I think that would be a very good thing. 



310 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. Have you any personal knowledge as to your dyeing materials? — 
A. Nothing more than what the gentleman lias reported here. 

Q. You buy your coloring materials. It- is a very small percentage 
of what goes into the candy, I suppose? — A. Oh, very small, anyway; 
but I couldn't cover the ground any more than Mr. Berry or Mr. 
Gunther have already done. 

Q. Do you buy the domestic or imported coloring matter? — A. We 
buy both. 

Mr. Gunther. The imported colors all have, I think, the certificates 
of the Government chemist as to the purity of the different colors . 

The Chairman. That it contains nothing injurious. 

Mr. Gunther. Then it is harmless. 

The Witness. That it is considered to be strictly pure, and the}'- 
have to be when they pass the Government on the other side, and 
they can't live there unless they are. 

The Chairman. We have other things that are imported into this 
country, like coffee and wine and beer, which, so far as the evidence 
shows here, can not be sold in their own country at all, but I under- 
stand you to say they have a certificate on each package or box con- 
taining the goods? 

The Witness. Not on the packages; it must have a label on it. 

Q. On the package or bottle? — A. Yes. 

Q. That helps to sell the goods, doesn't it? — A. Yes; because we 
have all confidence that the goods are strictly pure. 

Q. Anj^thing that gives a certificate of character to your goods, or 
to my goods, whether it is flour or candy, helps us to find a market 
for them? — A. Yes. 

Q. That is another argument for national legislation on this subject, 
is it not? — A. Yes; I should think it would be in this case. 

Q. Take, for instance, our fiour. We sold ten millions of barrels 
one year. Then a year ago we put on a Government certificate, and 
then we sold fifteen millions. 

The Witness. The minute they see the trade-mark they know what 
they are getting when they buy. They know they are not going to 
be deceived. They have confidence. 

The Chairman. The legislation! am proposing could injure no one 
who is an honest manufacturer of confectionery. 

The Witness. Who is honest in his line of business. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything else, Mr. Shields? 

The Witness. There is only one thing that I wanted to call your 
attention to, Senator, and that is, as far as your large and prominent 
confectioners in this country are concerned, there is but very little 
difficulty with those; but it is the people who are not known at all to 
the country who get a certain amount — in fact, 33 per cent of the goods 
that are used to-day are made in basements and cellars, and cooked 
over little stoves by people who don't know the first single, solitary 
thing about confectionery. A child will go up and buy that stuff and 
eat it, and that's how it gets sick. They will eat anything that is 
sweet. 

Q. But the factories themselves are sometimes basements and cel- 
lars, where you feel that unhealthy things get into the candy by 
absorption and lack of cleanliness. — A. The way they have of making 
them is improper. We have to-day in Chicago alone at least one 
thousand concerns making candy in basements and in back alleys and 
cellars, and every other place; and that candy is carried in baskets 
and peddled all over the country and brought to the stands. They 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 311 

make it and bring it to the fellow who has a stand and sell it to him, 
and he will buy anj^thing as long as he can get it cheap. Those are 
the goods that are raising Cain in this country, and if the people who 
make ihem were looked after the big concerns have pride enough in 
t hemselves to turn out everything all right. But there is where the 
1 rouble comes. My idea of the candy manufacturers would be for the 
(xovernment to put a license on them, and not give a license to any 
manufacturer that was not able to answer his questions to make 
c-andies. Then to have State, city, and United States factory inspect- 
ors, and if these fellows are not up to date take their licenses away. 
That would keep the factories clean and put the ingredients right 
under the eye of the Government, and give the country at large what 
they ought to have — pure food. That's what we ought to have. 
(An adjournment was here taken to June 9, 1899, at 12.30 p. m.) 



Friday, June 9, 1899. 
The committee met at 12.30 p. m. 
Present — The Chairman. 



STATEMENT OF MR, FRED PA:^ST. 

Mr. Fred Pabst, being first duly sworn, testified as follows: 

The Chairman. What is your name? 

Mr. Pabst. Fred Pabst. 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Mr. Pabst. Milwaukee. 

The Chairman. What is your occupation? 

Mr. Pabst. I am a brewer. 

The Chairman. How long have you been a brewer? 

Mr. Pabst. Since 18(U. 

The Chairman. Did you ever serve your time as an apprentice at 
t he trade? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, I went up through every branch of the business. 

The Chairman. You consider yourself a practical brewer? 

Mr. Pabst. Well, I know 

The Chairman. I mean outside of being the pi-oprietor? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You know the ingredients that go into the making 
of beer? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. I understand you supposed this committee was still 
open and that you wanted 

Mr. Pabst. That is what I understood; that is the reason I came 
down. 

The Chairman. Well, so far as we could, we finished with the Chi- 
cago evidence. We, finished yesterday, either the subject of beer or 
confectionery, I have forgotten which, but I am going to take the 
time, and if you have any statement you would like to make you may 
make it. First of all, you have been in the business a long time, what 
do you say as to a national law? 

Mr. Pabst. I think it would be a very good thing. I think it 
would be a very good thing. 

The Chairman. It would assist the honest manufacturer? 



312 ADULTERATIO]^ OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir? ^ 

The Chairman. And protect the consumer? 

Mr. Pabst. Undoubtedly. 

The Chairman. Tell the committee just what kind of beer you 
make, for instance. 

Mr. Pabst. Well, we think we make the best beer in the world — 
we try to. We buy nothing but the very best of material and we 
have the best of talent, and we spare no expense in making as good 
as can be made. We do that in order, of course, to increase our 
trade and in order to give the public something that they want. 
And we claim that we make as good a beer as is made in any part of 
the world. 

The Chairman. Do j^ou use auj^ preservatives in beer? 

Mr. Pabst. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Glucose? 

Mr. Pabst. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you use any salicylic acid? 

Mr. Pabst. No, sir; we do not. 

The Chairman. Have you ever heard of its being used in the past? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. How long since? 

Mr. Pabst. I think about eight or ten j'^ears ago, probably. 

The Chairman. What was it used for then? 

Mr. Pabst. In order to preserve the beer — to keep it from getting 
rily, you know. That was before we — well, we didn't know as much 
about making beer then as we do now. 

The Chairman. Do j^oit use what is called 

Mr. Pabst. We have facilities 

The Chairman. Do j^ou use wliat is called the sterilizing process? 

Mr. Pabst. 1 know what j^ou mean 

The Chairman. Do you use the process known as pasteurization? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir; we pasteurize bottled beer. 

The Chairman. And since that time you have not had any 

Mr. Pabst. No, sir. 

The Chairman. As far as you know about other factories, yon could 
not give this committee any information as to their using it? 

Mr. Pabst. I do not think it is used in this country. I think that 
every brewer tries to make as good and healthy beer as they can — as 
they know how. 

The Chairman. That is a good upright opinion you have of your 
people. 

Mr. Pabst. I do not know anything that a brewer can use that is 
cheajjer than malt and hops. Another thing, the brewers can not be 
too careful about what they put in beer. The materials they use 
have to come in pretty large quantities ; they can not bring it in in night- 
caps, and it would be subject to inspection. You could not put the 
things in secretly; you would have to do so publicly. 

Tlie Chairman. How about imported beer — what do you know about 
that? Excuse me for asking about matters of this kind, but the com- 
mittee want all the information thej^ can get. Some have testified 
that there is a preservative of some kind, either salicjdic acid or some- 
thing else, in imported beer. Have j'ou any knowledge on that subject ? 

Mr. Pabst. I have not ; I only know that the imported beer is growing 
less all the time. I do not believe that there is over 60,000 barrels of 
ale and beer in wood and bottles imported into this country in a year. 
I do not think there is as much as tliat. Tliere used to be a great 
deal more, I know. 



ADULTEKATIOlvr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 313 

The Chairman. You attribiite that to the increase iu the value of 
our beer? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir; exactly. 

The Chairman. Do you know, from reading or from experience, 
whether the law of — take the German laws — they are compelled to use 
a certain amount of hoj)s and malt and so on; do you remember about 
what the law is? 

Mr. Pabst. I do not just know what the law is. I do not know 
about that. 

The Chairman. I did not know but what you might know. I am 
getting some translations of the old-country laws. I have an idea 
that the laws of those countries would not fit the American situation. 

Mr. Pabst. The American test 

The Chairman. The American test — and the test might not apply 
to our situation, so that while we can follow those laws we might get 
some good ideas as to the manner of inspection. 

Mr. Pabst. I am not posted on that. 

The Chairman. You have nothing further to give us, or any further 
suggestions to make? I suppose we can get samples? 

Mr. Pabst. Yes, sir. 

The committee then adjourned subject to the call of the chairman. 



October 20, 1899. 
The committee met in room 201, Grand Pacific Hotel, Chicago, at 10 
o'clock a. m. 

Present: The chairman. 

STATEMENT OF HENRY C. PIRRUNG. 

Henry C. Pirrung, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 
By the Chairman : 

Q. What is your name ? — A, Henrj^ C. Pirrung. 

Q. Your residence ? — A. Columbus, Ohio. 

Q. Your occupation? — A. Manufacturer of butterine. 

Q. You have not been before this committee before, have you ? — A. 
No, sir. 

Q. I wanted to get, Mr. Pirrung, in a general way — not prying into 
any man's personal or private business, however — first, the ingredients 
and the general method of manufacture of your goods, if you will 
state them, and how it is made, so far as you know. — A. I think I can 
best explain that to this committee, Senator, bj' actually taking, as it 
were, a trip through our factory. 

Q. Yes. — A. And first and foremost we will consider the ingredients 
as they are received l)y us from the packers. 

Q. Yes. — A. It must be understood that we buy all our oleo oil and 
neutrals from the packing houses, not having anj^ facilities for mak- 
ing our own raw nmterial. 

Q. As you use the words, let me ask questions. This oleo oil — that 
is a part of the beef product, is it not? — A. Oleo oil is a selected 
fat from beef that is usually obtained from the caul fat, and is in 
appearance a beautiful yellow, having a granular appearance, and 
looks very much like yellow butter. That is one of the principal 
ingredients, which we receive in nice new tierces direct from the 



314 ADULTERATION OF FOOD TKODUCTS. 

packer, second-hand tierces never being nsed by packers as long as 
we have been in the bnsiness, which is over twelve years. Now, the 
neutral which we receive is a beantifnl white product made from the 
leaf of the pig only, and in taste is nut-like and in odor positively 
neutral; and I might state that the oleo oil is also neutral in smell. 
Now, we use those two ingredients just the same as a housewife would 
use flour in making bread — that is, the quantity. The yeast of but- 
terine, as we term it, is the milk, cream, salt, and coloring. Now, 
those combined are churned in a nice steel or tin churn, mixed, as 
you might say, for twenty or thirty minutes, then flow into a bath of 
ice water, in which it congeals and gets the grain incidental to butter. 
That water must be absolutely pure or it will contaminate the prod- 
uct, and can not be used over and over again, as is often stated hy 
other people who do not know anything about the manufacture of 
this product. Then it is put on to nice, new wash tables in order to 
let the water drain from it again; then it is immediatel}^ put on to the 
butter worker, in which the water is again worked out, salt added, 
and then it is taken into the rolling or printing room, as the case may 
be, and is finished up into beautiful molds and prints. Then it is 
wrapped either in new cloth — no shirt tails. Senator, in our factory 

Q. No what '? — A. No shirt tails used in our factory at all for wrap- 
ping prints. Or nice new 30-pound vegetable parchment paper pack- 
ages. The Government further prescribes that all oleomargarine 
must be packed in new wooden packages. Therefore, the second- 
hand oleomargarine packages are left for the use of the butter people. 
The article is then required to be branded with the word "Oleomar- 
garine," specifically, in letters 1 inch high, the name of the factory, 
its location, and, in fact, the gross, tare, and net, and even the style 
of the prints must be put on the outside. 

We are required to put a caution notice on to this package, advising 
the retailer to destroy the stamp and the manufacturer or anyone 
else not to use this package again for oleomargarine, under severe 
penalties prescribed by the Federal laws. 

Now, you will readily see that it is absolutely impossible for the 
manufacturer, if he carries out the j)rovisions of the Federal law, to 
sell that product for anything else than what it is. Actually it looks 
like a billboard when it goes from our factory with the words 
"Oleomargarine" on the stamp and the caution notice on the side 
and on the top. And then we are not satisfied. We put our own 
name and a label on the reverse side, so that no one can possibly be 
deceived. 

I think that is about as near as I can explain the manufacture of 
butterine here without going through the factory. 

Q. Do you use any preservative besides salt'? — A. None whatever. 

Q. None at all? — A. None whatever. Now, in that connection. Sen- 
ator, if I may be pardoned, I would say that the ingredients entering 
into butterine are cooked, and therefore butterine, if made properly, 
will never get rancid, no matter how long you let it lie around. It 
will possibly lose its flavor or its taste, but it never will get rancid. 

Q. It is heated to such a degree, I suppose, that it kills all the 
bacteria'? — A. All the bacteria and the bacilli are killed, and there- 
fore no preservative is needed. 

Q. Your factory is not allowed to retail at all under the law, as 'I 
understand it? — A. Not under our manufacturer's license. 

Q. I suppose you have heard the evidence that was given here 
before? There were statements made here before by some people 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 315 

that it was customary to sell butterine for butter. — A. I was sum- 
moned here rather unexpectedly and only know what I read in the 
papers last spring. That is perfectly ridiculous, and I think is an 
insult to the intelligence of the American people, because, as I said 
in regard to the manufacturer's packages, the Government prescribes 
for a retailer that he must stamp the paper; that in several States, 
notably Ohio, he has' to have a placard advising the people that oleo- 
margerine is sold at his place, and, in addition, he is required to 
stamp the ingredients as furnished by the manufacturer; and I don't 
see how a person possessed of the five senses can possibly buy butter- 
ine for butter, especially if they keep posted as to the price. 

Q. Can you tell about how many pounds of oleomargarine ai'e manu- 
factured annually in this country? — A. Only that T read fi-om the 
statement of the Internal Revenue Commissioner that there were 
about 80,000,000 pounds made last year. 

Q. And how many pounds of dairy or farm butter — that is, mark- 
eted?— A. There is something like 5,000,000,000 pounds. 

Q. Where did you get those statistics? — A. I read them from the 
l^oard of Trade Review here not long ago. I know that the pro- 
duction of oleomargarine as compared with butter in this countrj'^ 
is just a fraction over 5 per cent. So it is a very limited quantity 
after all. 

Q. And yet the demand is there? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. For this 80,000,000 pounds of butterine?— A. Yes, sir; it is, and 
as far as my vast experience of twelve years is concerned, and in which 
I have been engaged in nothing else except this business, I find that 
there are two very distinct classes using butterine only. The first 
and foremost class is the intelligent, who buy it from choice. They 
know what it is composed of. They have got through reading this 
silly rot as published by each and every dairy journal purporting to 
he the farmer's friend. They buy butterine on account of its keeping 
(lualities and the cleanliness in its manufacture, and they know its 
merit; That is the first and foremost distinct class using butterine. 
The second class is the class that buys it from necessity. They can 
not afford to go on the open market and pay perhaps 25 and even 35 
cents a pound for butter, but are compelled to give their children 
something perhaps of equal merit at a less cost. 

Q. What coloring do you use? — A. We have used nothing but a 
vegetable coloring made by Chris Hansen's laboratorj-, which is made 
from the annotto bean, from the vegetable colors which are made 
under our own formula. 

Q. Is there anything else that you use in it that you haven't men- 
tioned? — A. No, sir. I wish, in passing, you would ask me whether 
we use anything that we consider deleterious to health. 

Q. That is what I am getting at. I want to know whether you do, 
and then I want to know what you use, so that the committee can 
see whether it is deleterious to health. As far as dies or colorings are 
concerned, there are no chemical dj^es used in your factory? It is a 
purely vegetable dye, is it — no chemical dye used? — A. It is purely 
vegetable. 

Q. And in the meat products j'ou have described you say no pre- 
servative — nothing but salt? — A. That is all. 

Q. I will put the broad question: You have stated practically 
everything that you use in the manufacture of butterine? — A. Yes. 
I will state that again. It is oleo oil, or beef fat, natural or pork fat, 
milk, cream, salt, and coloring. That is all we use. Now, in answer 



316 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

to whether we use anything deleterious to health, I was going to say 
that the very best and foremost testimonial is furnished us by the food 
commissioners of the United States, who have never in the history of 
oleomargarine attempted to say that anything deleterious has been 
used in its composition. If we had, they would have run us out of 
business long ago. 

Q.' When you saj^ food commissioners of the United States you 
mean of the different States? — A. Yes; the different States. 

The Chairman. I would like to have a food commission of the 
United States, if I can, and have uniformity in all matters of food 
products. I don't know whether I will succeed or not, but that is one 
of the objects of this investigation. 

Q. Could you furnish this committee or furnish me for the com- 
mittee with some of the statements and testimonials of different State 
commissioners who have, for instance, analyzed this product? — A. Can 
I furnish them? 

Q. Would it be any trouble for you? — A. No; I can furnish you 
their annual reports to their several governors, which they are com- 
pelled to make. 

Q. If you could send them to me I would be very glad to have them. 
I think it would be well to embody them in this evidence. — A. I 
would be very glad to cooperate with this committee in anj^thing that 
I can do. 

Q. They want to know, first of all, if there is anything deleterious 
to health, and secondly, if there is any fraud on the people. — A. Now, 
for the benefit of this committee I will say that there is no fraud per- 
petrated on the people here. Of course we will admit that there is a 
similarity in appearance between butterine and butter. They look 
identical because they are both colored, and they are identical as 
regards their constituents. For instance, deduct the salt and water 
from butter. A chemist will say: "Here is a residue of 100 per cent 
fat. " Now, then, deduct the water and salt from butterine. A chemist 
will say likewise: "Here is a residue of 100 per cent fat." • The butter 
has a residue of 100 per cent fat, raw fat. The butterine has a residue 
of 100 per cent of cooked fat. Microscopically they are identical. 
Chemically they differ somewhat, but it must be remembered that 
they are both distinctively animal fats. Now, then, they say that we 
make butterine to imitate butter. That is ridiculous, again, because 
butterine is as distinct from butter as wool is from cotton or steel from 
iron. We consider that our product is a product of the advanced 
age. Science has effected this. 

Q. Have j^ou a food commissioner in the State of Ohio? — A. A very 
prominent one. 

The Chairman. I have been reading about so many that I have 
forgotten individual ones. 

The Witness. Yes ; a very prominent one. 

Q. Has he analyzed the products of your factory? — A. He has 
repeatedly, and so has every one who preceded him, and in no instance 
have they found anything deleterious to health, but, on the contrary", 
they say that they, if thej- had the choice to dictate what shall be 
used, would say that butterine should be used in preference to what 
they term the oi-dinary butter. But they say, inasmuch as there exists 
on the statute books a law prohibiting the coloring of butterine, they 
are bound to enforce it, and it is true they cause us a great deal of 
trouble. 

Q. Is that a btate law? — A. That is a State law. 



adultp:ration of food products. 317 

Q. There liave been some recent decisions in regard to that matter, 
have there not, in the courts? — A. Some very prominent decisions, 
and particularly lately, notal)ly one in Michigan, which was decided 
by the highest court there, declaring — well, the law stated that if an 
article is colored, coated, or powdered, wherel)y damage or inferiority 
is concealed, or whereby a product is made to appear better than it 
really is, it shall come under the ban of the food laws; but that law, 
as far as oleomargarine is concerned, has been declared unconstitu- 
tional, because they say that the introduction of coloring in butter- 
ine does not affect its quality, does not make it any better, does not 
create a greater price for it, and does not conceal any inferiority, and 
therefore it does not come under that act at all. That is a very late 
decision. 

Q. Do you think of anything else you would like to say? — A. I was 
hastily summoned before this committee, as I said before, and not 
knowing what they expected of me, I searched my memorj^ as best I 
could from reading the newspaper articles of last spring, and I think 
I can reply to at least some of the charges made here in regard to color- 
ing, particularly, as that seems to be the only deleterious substance, 
as they term it, used in oleomargarine, or, as I find Charles Y. Knight 
says, "adulteration." Now, if the Encyclopaedia Britannica is looked 
up you will find that an adulteration is where an article has been 
debased, made inferior, or loathsome; where its standard has been 
lowered. I think the term is illy used, because if we do use color at 
all it is to create a better appearance, to enhance its value, so I think 
he had better look up a better word than adulteration. Now, I made 
a note here that butterine manufacturers have just as much pride in 
their business as any other manufacturer, be he a goldsmith or clothier 
or a producer of any food ; and naturally they want their product to 
appear as salable and as sightly and as popular as it is possible to 
make it, and therefoi'e the introduction of coloring matter from the 
time that the very first pound of butterine was made twenty-five 
years ago. Never in the history of the making of oleomargarine was 
there a pound of butterine made that was not colored. Your own 
recollection will serve you that twenty-five years ago butter was of 
checkerboard hue, when seen on the bench or store counter, and 
lately it is colored universally, and I can speak positively about that, 
because we operate four creameries, having over 500 dairies contribut- 
ing milk to these separate creameries, and every pound of butter that 
we make during every year is colored. 

Q. Then you make creamery butter besides? — A. Oh, yes. 

Q. But in another place entirely? — A. Yes, sir. They are located 
from 10 to 32 miles west of Columbus, and are separate and distinct. 
Now, I will tell you why we created those creameries. Formerly we 
had contract with milk and cream shippers, and when milk and cream 
was in abundance we could get milk at a reasonable price, but when 
the article became scarce milk was diluted and cream was diluted, and 
we couldn't get the quantity that we desired. We were forced, there- 
fore, to build our own creameries in order to supply our butterine 
houses. Another thing: If we would go down on the street and select 
five or six tubs of fancy fresh creamery butter, by the time our wagon 
would get around to collect it we would have about five or six tubs of 
ancient butter that nobody knew where it was made, or anything about 
it. Now, on the subject of color, I would cite this committee to the 
fact that fine confections are all colored. 



318 adulteeatiojst of food peoducts. 

The Chairman. Yes; that is the evidence ah-eadv before the com- 
mittee. 

The Witness. And I can safely saj^ that we will all agree here 
that they are not colored to improve their taste, and that they are 
simply colored to create a favorable imj)ression on the ej^e ; but the 
eye being in direct communication with the stomach, makes the con- 
fections more acceptable, heightens the appetite, and so on, and cre- 
ates perhaps a demand from a passive consumer that an ordinary 
piece of white candj^ would not do. 

So it is with butterine. We desire to create a demand. We desire 
to attract to our product. And then, again, we desire to put the con- 
sumer of butterine, whom I classed as one using it from necessity, on 
a parity with his wealthier neighbor. To illustrate : The rich man's 
daughter may go to school with her bread buttered with a nice rich 
golden piece of creamery butter. The poor man's little child goes to 
school with her bread buttered with a white-appearing substance 
which nearly everybody knows, if this color law were firmly enforced, 
would be butterine, and she would be criticized, perhaps, for using an 
inferior product, or, rather, a cheaper product, just the same as the 
rich child now criticizes the poorer ones for wearing gingham aprons 
while the others have silk. But the coloring of butterine puts the poor 
child on equal terms with the rich one, as far as its lunch basket is 
concerned at school. Now, it is my opinion, Senator, that a law for- 
bidding the coloring of butterine would deprive the citizen of his con- 
.stitutional right as prescribed by this Government. 

The Chairman. I saw a synopsis of this decision. Does not the 
decision lately rendered goto the fundamental question of the consti- 
tutional rights of the individual ? Was it upon the ground that the 
law lacked uniformity in permitting the coloring of one article and 
not of another, or was it because of an inherent right ? You don't 
remember the ground 'i 

Answer. I would answer that by saying that most of the decisions 
have been based on technical points, such as the improper headlining 
of the bill, and then bringing cases under clauses of enactments that 
do no pertain to butterine at all. For instance, the one cited in 
Michigan. But a real good point by the United States Supreme 
Court has never been taken, to m,y knowledge, on the question of 
coloring matter. Did you want me to go on with what little notes I 
have? 

The Chairman. Anything j^ou want to offer. 

Answer. Have I all the time I want? 

Question. All the time you want. I want the committee, when this 
evidence is printed, to have all sides of every man's case. I don't 
want to do an injustice by reason of lack of information. I want all 
of your side of this question. We have had the other side, and I 
want to get every man's side and give every man a fair show. 

The Witness. I think it has been stated to this committee that 
oleomargarine is a cheap and inferior product, which in my estima- 
tion is about the silliest thing anybody could saj' . It is a positive 
fact that about eight months in the year butterine sells for more than 
the average grades of butter, and it is not an inferior product, because 
if it were inferior to butter every oleomargarine factory in the United 
States would be closed down for the reason that there is alreadj^ an 
incalculable amount of poor butter or valueless butter on the market 
which is unsalable and which, if butterine were as cheap or as illy 
made as that, would deprive the manufacturer of the sale of butter- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 319 

ine, and therefore the factories would naturally be compelled to close 
down. 

Now, the fact is that every manufacturer of butterine makes his 
product an improvement over butter, which naturally has created a 
sentiment in favor of it and increased its sale. 

Much has been said here regarding the State laws, and great 
braggadocio has been brought forward over the number of States 
which have laws curtailing the sale of butterine in them and dictat- 
ing its ingredients, as to what shall* and what shall not l)e used. In 
my opinion these vicious laws are an incentive for the oleomargarine 
<lealer to hide his product, and, if anything at all, to sell it upon a 
technical inquiry without giving the information that it is butterine, 
and so on; but those cases even are very rare, as retail dealers in 
butterine are proud of the product they are selling, and are glad to 
sell it for what it is. 

I would like to cite the Pennsylvania statute as it existed a year 
<igo. That statute passed an absolutely prohibitory law, prohibiting 
the manufacture and sale of butterine in any form or in any character. 
It is a well-known fact that the western part of Pennsylvania is 
dependent upon butterine sources for its food supplies entirely in 
that respect. What would they do without butterine? And it was a 
foregone conclusion that when they passed that law butterine would 
be sold anyway. 

Now, think of the dealer's position who had a demand for this but- 
terine. The Government compelled him to stamp his name, his 
address, and city in which he lived, and the word "Oleomargarine" 
in one-quarter inch letters on every retail package, or lie would be 
subjected to severe penalties. If he complied with that Federal law 
the State accepted that as positive proof that he sold oleomargarine, 
<ind he will be fined $100. What was a retail dealer to do? There is 
no consistency in such legislation. 

The Chairman. The one compels him, if he sells at all, to conceal 
the fact, and the other, if he sells at all, compels him to advertise the 
fact. 

The Witness. It was just like a father telling a little son to go 
north and a big brother meeting him down on the corner and saying 
to him: "If you go north I will knock your head off." What is the 
little boy going to do? He is going to do as he pleases. Now, it has 
been said here that the oleomargarine business has been conducted in 
a sly, underhanded manner — trying to sell it, tiying to conceal it from 
the public gaze, and so on. Nothing would do this committee more 
good than to take a carriage ride (and I am sure Mr. Moxlej^ will pay 
for it) and come over and see the houses that he has got placarded 
here — half sides of buildings — with "Moxley's butterine." Then let 
them go along the L and the surface roads and see the signs of 
Brown Fittz's butterine. Let them go to the stores and see the numer- 
ous signs of Swift & Co. 's, Armour & Co. 's, Hammond & Co. 's butterine. 

There is nothing at all secret about that, to my knowledge. I know- 
that fabulous sums have been paid for advertising, and just hastily 
I picked up a few cards, and that card [handing a card to the chair- 
man] we have over 5,000,000 of them printed and circulated through- 
out the United States, and we had 2,000,000 copies of this one [hand- 
ing another card to the chairman] printed and circulated throughout 
the United States within the last year. It doesn't say anything about 
butter on there. 



320 ADULTERATION 'of FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. No ; it says, ' ' Purely B att eriue. "' The word ' ' But- 
terine " is in the largest letters there. 

The Witness. Now, take up that there, Senator, and yon will 
find on there a cut of the wagon which shows a brass plate there 48 
inches square on the sid^, with our name on there, and in the corner 
you will find another plate about 4 feet high by 16 inches wide, with 
the word "Butterine" on it. We have four of these wagons that 
parade the streets of Columbus continuously from morning until 
night. There is no concealment of the fact that these wagons carry 
butterine. There is nothing hidden about it. We are not trying to 
conceal anything. Now, it is an established fact that fabulous 
amounts have been spent to advertise and bring prominently before 
the people of the United States our product. There is nothing under- 
handed and nothing concealed about the manufacture or sale of it, 
except when a man wants to find out about it and encourages a man 
to buy butterine for butter, as has been detailed here in your inves- 
tigation. 

Q. Just right there: What is the amount of tax per j)ound? — A. 
Two cents a pound on every pound that is made. 

Q. Now, that is the first tax you pay, is it? — A. That is the tax on 
the product. The manufacturer's license is $600 a year, the whole- 
saler's $480 a year, and the retailer's $48 a year, payable in advance. 
Now, right on that subject, Mr. Chairman, we consider it a gross 
injustice to tax a food product, or even our product of butterine, 
because we say that if it is not wholesome, if it is not fit for human 
consumption, the Government should exterminate its manufacture; 
but if the Government prescribes its manufacture 

Q. Permits it, you meauV — A. No; prescribes it, provided it is made 
in a satisfactory and healthful manner, I don't think it ought to be 
taxed at all, because that tax simply comes out of the consumer's 
pocketbook. Of course you understand, I think, that that tax is 
simply intended as a regulation to assist in having it sold for what it 
is. That is the object of the taxation; and that was sustained as a 
revenue measure, and I think the point was made that there wasn't 
tax enough to produce revenue enough to pay the Government for the 
worry and trouble of collecting it; and it was held in that case that 
while it did not produce much revenue, that the ultimate end and 
object of the tax was to regulate. 

Q. In other words, you feel that it ought to be regulated and sold 
for what it is worth? — A. Decidedly so. 

Q. But you feel that it ought not to pay a tax to the Government. 
I can see the ground upon which j^ou take your position. — A. No, 
Senator; in my opinion, of course, I think that this product should 
not be regulated for no other reason but to please the element which 
is continually endeavoring to stir up some sort of legislation against 
butterine. Now, this element is no doubt composed of people engaged 
in the publication of dairy periodicals, for selfish gain, I guess, only. 
The other element is the commission-house element, who lose the sale 
of butterine to butter manufacturers because thej^ could not ajid 
would not furnish a good article; and the third is perhaps an ele- 
ment that does not know anything about it. For that reason a regu- 
lation should be on this product, in my opinion, but it should not be 
at the rate of $48 a year, and I think that a tax of 112 a year, to serve 
as a register, to serve for the purpose of identifying the location of 
the dealer in the city or village, is all that is necessary. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 321 

Q. What does the manufacturer have to pay? — A. $600 a year 
before he turns a wheel, on the 1st of July. 

Q. And then the wholesaler — how much does he have to pay? — A. 
$480 a year. 

Q. And the retailer — how much? — A. $48 a year. 

Now, so far as the 2-cent tax is concerned, that may or may not be 
left on, because it does not cost the manufacturer anything. He 
adds that on the price of the product, and the consumer pays for it, 
and it is only reasonable and businesslike. I think the registration 
through a license of $12 a year would be entirely sufficient. It is 
not necessary to charge $48; but that is a matter for Congress to 
determine, and not ourselves. Now, another great cry that has gone 
up here by these farmer protectionists is that the farmer is suffer- 
ing because butterine has taken the place of butter. Well, I don't 
know anj^thing that goes into the comjDOsition of butterine that does 
not come from the farm in some place or other, except, perhaps, the 
tin fasteners, which are hardly to be mentioned for value. The rest 
of it all comes from the farm in some shape or other. 

I can't recall the professor's name in Wisconsin, but I can furnish 
this committee with his name later on, who declares that rancid butter 
is absolutely poisonous, and I defy anyone to ever mention having 
seen or even heard of a piece of rancid butterine. And it is just as 
impossible to make butterine out of it, comjjosed of putrid fats, as it 
is to make a whole coat out of torn cloth. So that that statement 
about butterine being made out of rancid and putrid fats is absolutely 
ridiculous, and is another insult to the intelligence of the people. 

Now, Senator, I think I have gone over all the notes I made here. 
I will be very glad to answer anj^thing further that you would like to 
ask. 

The Chairman. I have been trying and hoping to get some descrip- 
tion of this process of making over what is known as putrid butter. 
They have a system of gathering it and working it over, rechurning 
it, and so on. Do you know anj^thing about that? Have you ever 
seen it done? 

Answer. No, sir; from the fact that the}?^ do not permit anybody to 
enter their factory, I don't know. The nearest that you would care to 
come to their factory is to the edge of the smell, which is quite remote 
from the factory, and the}^ don't let you get any further than that. 
There is a business I would like to see how it is done. 

The Chairman (addressing Mr. Knight). You were going to look 
that uf) for me. 

Mr. Knight. I gave you the names of some of the people in that 
business. 

The Witness. You are at perfect liberty to look into that. 

The Chairman. I don't know that there is anything in that that 
requires investigation, but I remember now that j^ou did give me the 
names. 

The Witness. I would like to state that it is a matter of vital im- 
portance to this committee to get hold of that business. 

The Chairman. I think it certainly can not do any harm to have 
the facts. 

The Witness. I think they have a product — I think that if a prod- 
uct is colored to conceal its real character, that that so-called reno- 
vated butter is an article that comes under that head. Renovated 
butter is the term applied to it by Food Commissioner Wells, of Penn- 
F p 21 



322 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

sylvania, and I think he was right. I think he was awarded a medal 
for the cognomen that he gave that butter. 

Q. Do yon think of anything else that you wanted to say on that 
side of your case? — A. Well, perhaps, in regard to that 10-cent tax 
law, which is being agitated by some paper — I don't know its name — 
Mr. Knight is editor of it. Is it Knight or Dark? It's the same, 
anyway. 

Q. What is the name of that paper? — A. Mr. Caylor carries a file 
around with him. 

Mr. Caylor. I didn't bring it with me. 

Mr. Knight. The Chicago Dairy Produce. 

The Witness. That is the paper. 

The Chairman. What have j^ou to say in regard to that proposition? 

The Witness. I have just recited who passed the tax of 2 cents a 
pound that is now imposed on butterine. The wholesaler pays it. 
He pays that. Who would pay that 10 cents a pound? The 
manufacturer? No ; the same two classes that I cited before — the class 
that would enjoy butterine because they know of its merits, and the 
class that is compelled to buy it because they can't afford to pay the 
high price of butter. In other words, it would deprive that class from 
buying just exactly what they want, and nothing would be gained by 
it; nothing at all. 

Q. Was the proposition made to tax it all 10 cents instead of 2 
cents, or simply to raise the tax upon that which was colored? — A. 
There are two opinions expressed. The one formerly expressed was 
to tax the colored product, and then somebody thought to tax all of it. 
I think the first proposition is the more ridiculous of tlie two, because 
it would actually put a premium on a man's taste, on his desires. For 
instance 

Q. A premium or a tax? — A. Sir? 

Q. You mean a tax? — A. A tax of 10 cents a pound. 

Q. On his taste for the color of his food? — A. Yes. Why should a 
man pay more for a black woolen suit than he should for a gray 
woolen suit? How ridiculous. How unconstitutional, at the same 
time, if the Government should put a tax on black woolen cloth over 
gra}^ woolen cloth. 

That is about all I can think of, Senator. 



STATEMENT OF W. E. MILLER. 

W. E. Miller, being duly sworn, answered as follows in response 
to questions by the chairman : 

Q. What is your name?— A. W. E. Miller, 

The Chairman. I said to some one — several months ago — represent- 
ing your people here before this committee, that as soon as I could I 
would give your people a chance to testify before the committee, and 
for that reason I am here, and I want simply to inquire for the bene- 
fit of the committee, without going into matters in a prying way or 
asking you to testify to anything that you would consider improper. 

Q. Your business is what?— A. Manager of the butterine depart- 
ment of the Armour Packing Company, Kansas City. 

Q, Haven't they a factory here? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Is that the same Armour & Co. , the same firm, practically, as 
the one here? — A. It is a different corporation altogether. 

Q. You are the manager of that concern? — A. Yes, sir. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 323 

Q. Then you know what the product is and all of its ingredients? — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And also your methods as to putting it on the market? — A. Yes, 
sir. 

Q. I wish you would state, Mr. Miller, for the benefit of the com- 
mittee, the ingredients which you use. — A. I had a statement type- 
written this morning, as I thought perhaps I could get it more cor- 
rectly than by speaking extemporaneously. 

The Chairman. You may read it and then hand it to Mr. Taylor, 
the stenographer. 

(The witness then read his statement as follows:) 

Butterine is composed of the following ingredients: Oleo oil, neu- 
tral, butter, cream, milk, and salt, and highly refined cotton-seed oil 
is sometimes used in limited quantities in the cheapest grades. 

Oleo oil. — The first ingredient is made from the caul fat, which is 
the richest and choicest fat of the beef. This fat, amounting to about 
40 pounds to the beef, is taken out before the animal is skinned, 
thoroughly washed, and thrown into a vat of ice water (to get the ani- 
mal heat out), where it remains until the following day. It is run 
through a machine which chops it up fine and then cooked. After 
the cooking process is over the fat is cooled, placed in linen cloths, 
and put into a hydraulic press and the oil extracted. The residue in 
the cloths after pressing is commercially known as "stearine." 

Neutral. — Neutral is the leaf lard of the pig. The leaf, amounting 
to about or 6 pounds to the pig, is taken out as soon as the animal 
is killed, thoroughly washed, and put into a freezer, where it remains 
twenty-four hours. From the cooling room it is taken and run through 
a machine which cuts it into shreds and then cooked. Neutral is snowy 
white, without taste or odor. Both pigs and cattle are examined by 
Government inspectors before and after killing, thereby insuring 
protection against diseased animals. England, France, Germany, 
Holland, and many other foreign countries where butterine is manu- 
factured more extensively than in the United States depend entirely 
upon American packers for oleo oil and neutral. 

Cotton-seed oil. — This oil is extracted from selected cotton seed 
and then highlj^ refined. It is a pure, sweet product and is used quite 
generally for cooking iiurj)oses. 

The process of manufacturing butterine is a simple one. The ingre- 
dients as named are churned together for thirty minutes in large steel 
churns. After churning, the butterine, which is then in a liquid state, 
is chilled by passing through ice water, worked thoroughly to get the 
moisture out, and packed in tubs and cases. Every package is sten- 
ciled "Oleomargarine," gross, tare, and net weight, number of facto- 
ry, and district. A revenue stamp of 2 cents a pound is pasted on 
the tub or case, together with all the requirements of the law. In 
addition to the 2 cents a pound tax, manufacturers pay a license of 
$600, wholesale dealers 1480, retail dealers $48 per year. Each sale 
by a manufacturer is recorded in a book for that purpose, stating 
name, address, and amount. Every pound of material used is also 
reported in this book, one copy of which goes to the collector of the 
district in which the manufacturer is located and another copy to the 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Washington, D. C. 

Butterine is colored by what is known as Wells-Richardson 
improved butter color, which is indorsed by the Chicago Produce 
Review, the Elgin Dairy Report, and all other creamery journals, and 
is used almost exclusively by every creamery man in the United 



324 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

States. A very infinitesimal quantity is used in butterine. Butter- 
ine is not colored to resemble butter. When we commenced manu- 
facturing butterine, in 1881, our first product was highly colored, but 
not to imitate butter, because very little of the natural article was 
colored at that time. In the winter it was almost white; in the sum- 
mer it was a light-yellow or natural-grass color. Since the advent of 
butterine the creamery men have found it necessary to imitate it, 
because consumers considered butter more pleasing in appearance and 
just as palatable. 

All cream, milk, and butter used are the best that can be purchased, 
and especial attention is given the handling of cream and milk. Salt 
used is the celebrated Ashton brand, imported from England. 

Everything in the process of preparing oleo oil, neutral lard, and 
manufacturing butterine is scrupulously clean. All vats, trucks, 
tables, molds, and floors are thoroughly scrubbed with hot water once 
or twice a day. None of the laborers are allowed to itse tobacco while 
at work and cleanliness is enforced on every side. Each tub is steamed 
and scrubbed in hot water before being used. 

I would like to read into this testimony, with the Senator's permis- 
sion, a number of testimonals given by cei'tain noted chemists of the 
United States. We have Wiley, our Government chemist. We have 
Atwater, Chandler, Barker, and several others. I haven't those testi- 
monials here to-day, but I can send them to you. 

The Chairman. I would be glad to have them, and file them. 

The Witness. They all recommend butterine very highly, and they 
have all gone into its formula and chemical standpoints. Another 
thing: Butterine is preferred by many people on account of its keep- 
ing qualities. It is used in certain districts, notably in tropical dis- 
tricts, on account of their not being able to use butter. I have seen 
our butterine kept for six months, and when taken out of the package 
it would be just as sweet as it was when put up. It has perhaps lost 
somewhat of its butter flavor, but it had still its sweetness. It never 
gets rancid. 

Q. Do you use any preservative besides salt? — A. No, sir; and there 
is nothing at all secret in the process or in the sale of the goods. We 
have spent as high as 125,000 a year in advertising our butterine. 
Our billheads are labeled butterine, and we have out advertising 
matter, and we have up large signs, and there is nothing whatever 
secret in the marketing of the goods. 

Q. Where do you get your milk and cream? — A. We get them from 
the local creameries. 

Q, You do not make dairy butter, too, do you? — A. No, sir. 

Q. You say they sometimes put in butter? — A. Butter is ahvays 
used in the better grades. 

Q. Mr. Miller, do you think of anything else you would like to say 
on the subject of oleomargarine? — A. Perhaps I can enlarge on the 
point of butterine being sold for butter. We consider butterine is an 
article of merit, and people call for it because they want it, and it is 
sold for what it is worth. It is sold in the summer time to a great 
many people who can't afford to have ice boxes, and who buy it 
because it keeps, where, if they had butter, they could not keep it. 
Years ago it might be said it could be sold to advantage for butter, 
but at the present time it is an article of distinct merit. People call 
for it and they want it. You understand. Senator, that the retailers 
are required to brand oleomargarine on every pound sold. 

Q. What is this package here [referring to a bucket holding some 
product]? — A. That is a 10-pound package of butterine. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTB. 325 

Q. Do you think of anj^thing else? — A. I don't believe I think of 
anything else. 

The Chairman. There was some evidence taken on that side of the 
case by Senator Harris the day I went out. West. Was there some 
one testified from Mr. Moxley's place as to the manufacture? 

Mr. Miller. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Have you some one here who knows more about 
the ingredients? 

Mr. Miller. No. I guess I probably know as much about it as 
anj'one around our place. 



STATEMENT OF JOHN DADIE. 

John Dadie, being duly sworn, in response to questions by the 
chairman, testified as follows: 

Q. What is your name? — A. John Dadie. 

Q. What is your business, Mr. Dadie? — A. General manager of the 
William J. Moxley Butterine Company. 

Q. Where do you live? — A. In Chicago. 

Q. What part of the city? — A. 63 and 65 West Monroe street. 

Q. Have you testified before this committee before? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Were you here the day that Senator Harris examined some wit 
nesses? — A. Yes; I was present that da3^ 

Q. But he did not examine anj^one calling out the facts that I am 
now asking about from those other witnesses? — A. No; I believe not. 

The Chairman. I told some one representing you, the day before 
I went to Kansas, that Senator Harris would hear the evidence on 
this side of the case that day, or that I would later, during the sum- 
mer or fall. Your business is on hearing here and different sugges- 
tions are being made as to legislation, and I would like to have you 
state, for the benefit of the committee, what your oleomargarine is 
made of — what the ingredients of it are. 

Answer. Senator, I have listened to the evidence of the two former 
witnesses, and to their story as to the method of manufacture, the ingre- 
dients of which butterine is composed, and it is practically the same 
story of each manufacturer in the business. The ingredients that we 
make butterine from are oleo oil, neutral lard, milk, cream, butter, 
color, and salt. 

Q. There is one thing that has not been settled yet that I thought 
of asking, if I don't interrupt you. When this churning process 
takes place, is it heated? Is that the time it is cooked? Are all 
those things heated? — A. No; that — we take these ingredients and 
heat them, and it will be necessary to do that in order to churn them 
and get a proper plant. Now, a great deal has been said in regard to 
the question of color, and I understand there is going to be consider- 
able agitation in Congress in regard to that very thing. The color 
that we use is called the Wells-Richardson Improved Butter Color. 
I am not familiar with their method of manufacture or how it is 
made, but we simply desire to state in that matter that it is a color 
that we understand is used by almost every ereameryman in the North- 
west, and possibly throughoutthe United States. We find it advertised 
extensively in the paper called The Chicago Dairy Produce, and with 
3^our permission I would like to read one or two of their advertise- 
ments here. 

The Chairman. I have no objection. 



326 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Witness. I do that for the purpose of demonstrating the fact 
that the butter men are using the same identical color that is used in 
the manufacture of butterine. 

(The witness hear reads advertisements as follows) : 

Hear from Two States. Wells-Richardson Company's Improved Butter Equal 
to any Fancy Butter. Prize-winners in Indiana and South Dakota use the kind 
that has no mud. 

In Indiana, Herbert Newby, on Wells- Richardson Company's Color, scored ii7. 
In South Dakota, N. Simonson scored highest with the improved butter color, his 
score being 98. 

Second and third, and in fact nearly all the entries contained Wells-Richard- 
son Company's Improv^ed Butter Color. 

That, I presume, was the result of an exhibit at a State fair, in 
which they were scoring butter. 

Here is another under date of October 14: 

Use the best. Made the prize-winning butter. Highest two scores at the great 
St. Louis Fair. 

H. B. Olson, Hutchinson, Minn., scored 98f. 

J. P. Howell, highest score 9Sl. 

Their butter contained Wells-Richardson Company's Improved Butter Color. 
So did all the other high-scoring entries. 

I simply read this for the purpose of demonstrating to your com- 
mittee the fact that we use this same color that is used in all creamery 
butter. I wish to state, too, that we buy our oleo oil from the pack- 
ers. It is received in packages such as has been explained to the 
committee bj'^ a former witness, but in making neutral lard we make 
our neutral lard ourselves. It is brought in, chilled, run through 
what is known as a hashing machine, rendered out at a temperature, 
strained, and j)ut through a cold bath, which is known as a curing 
process, and is used in making butterine at the end of about three or 
four days. At the end of that time it is properly cured. The curing 
results in giving us a snow-white article absolutely without any flavor 
and almost tasteless. In our high grades of butter we use a certain 
amount of butter. We formerly used butter in all the grades that we 
made, but we found it was so hard to get butter to do it that we had 
to resort to other methods of securing the proper results. Now it is 
customary to use milk and cream instead of where we formerly used 
butter. 

Q. Mr. Dadie, there has been a good deal said here before the com- 
mittee as to the manner of getting it into the hands of the consumer 
and the numerous evasions of the law in selling packages that do not 
show what they are. Do you know anything about that? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You are not a retailer, are you? — A. No, sir; we are not retailers, 
but we are very close to that part of the business. We know this 
much about it, that every package of butterine that leaves our factory 
is marked and branded as this one (indicating a package on the 
table). This came from our factory. There is the original stamp. 
The Government requires that brand on it. 

Q. Just read it. — A. " Oleomargarine. Factor No. 5, First District 
of Illinois." 

We then further brand them with the grade of goods. That is what 
we call an extra fancy. The gross and the net weight of the package 
are also on it. 

Q. The gross weight includes the package itself? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And the net weight is what? Just the butter, I suppose. — A. 
Just the butter. I also want to call you attention to the labels on the 
sides of these packages. These labels are also prohibited by the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 327 

internal-revenue law. You will notice there the regular tax stamp 
of 2 cents a pound, which we are compelled to pay. There is a cau- 
tion notice, cautioning a person against using the package a second 
time. And then, in addition to that, we put on another "stamp: 
"W. J. Moxley's Finest High Grade Goods made." So a person in 
buying that package appears to me to be very ignorant if he is unable 
to tell what the contents of it would be. The complaint which was 
before the committee was largely in regard to the small packages done 
up in paper that were then done up in an outside wrapper and folded 
in such a way that the pvirchaser would not see the stamp. 

I believe that claim has been made before this committee and before 
other committees, possibly, and in different ways; but my experience 
in that direction has been that possibly a mistake might be made in 
the rush of a grocery store or something of that sort. A package 
might possibly get out without being branded ; but I believe it is the 
intention of every dealer in butterine to comj^ly with the United 
States laws. We have among our trade very little, if any, evasion. 
We advise all of them that they comply with the law, because the 
penalty is so severe that a violation of it would practically wipe them 
out of business. We, in order to facilitate the sale of butterine and 
help the grocer along in his line of business, are putting out large bill 
posters. We have probably 500 of them distributed about Chicago. 
They are about 20 by 10 feet in size, and read: "Ask your grocer for 
Moxley's high grade butterine." We are not only complying with the 
revenue law, but are going beyond them in advertising the product. 

Q. Do you know of anything at all that you consider deleterious to 
public or private health that goes into your goods'? — A. There is abso- 
lutely nothing that goes into the composition of butterine that is inju- 
rious in any way to health that I know of. We are familiar with 
everything that enters into the composition of it as made in our fac- 
tory, and can say positively that there is nothing used there that 
would injure a person in butterine. 

The Chairman. I don't think of anything else. If anj^ gentleman 
present wants to ask any question this is an open door. 

Mr. Knight. If I may be permitted I would like to ask a number of 
questions, inasmuch as there are a great many points that have not 
been brought out — that is, if you and Mr. Dadie have no objection. 

The Witness. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may 
ask. 

Mr. Knight. You put up a little oleo product in 1-pound prints? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. And 2-pound prints? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You put your name on some of them? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you ever put the word "Oleomargarine" on any of those 
prints? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Can you produce one that has the word "Oleomargarine " on the 
print? — A. Yes, sir; I can produce thousands of them. I woidd be 
pleased to have you come over to the factory and let us demonstrate 
something to you that you are not, apparently, aware of. 

Mr. Knight. I have seen a great many packages of oleomargarine 
and I have never seen any that had the word ' ' Oleomargarine " 

The Witness. You have probably not looked for that kind. 

Mr. Knight. I have looked for everything in the shaj)e of oleo- 
margarine. 

Q. Now, in regard to your allegations regarding the retailers of 



328 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Chicago. You said that 5^011 believed they sell the goods for what it 
is, and do not avoid the internal-revenue regulations? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. As a matter of fact, haven't you and your firm, within the last 
month, sent out letters guaranteeing to protect them against evasions 
of the same kind in the State laws, and haven't you furnished counsel 
to defend them in the courts in such charges? — A. We have never 
yet sent out a letter or advised a customer that we would guarantee 
them in evasions of the Federal laws. 

Q. Just the State laws. You are not fighting the Federal laws? — 
A. No, sir. We advise our customers to comply with all Federal 
legislation. 

Q. But you do fight the State laws? You don't pretend to obey the 
State laws in any place? — A. We are fighting laws that I believe are 
put through at the instigation of yourself. 

Mr. Knight. I did not pass the laws, only in one State. There are 
33 States that have laws which jou are fighting. 

The Witness. And if anyone attempts to persecute our customers 
we certainl^^ will defend them. 

Mr. Knight. I would like to make a record of the following 
affidavit and complaint [handing same to the chairman]. You may 
read it, Senator. It was contested here in this city by these gentle- 
men, b}^ this gentleman's firm, and Brown & Fittz, and by a number 
of firms where we attempted to j)rosecute for the sale of oleomargarine 
without advising the customer of the fact that it was sold as butter- 
ine. In the first case it was simply fought on gen^eral principles. In 
the second case there was no defense raised at all as to the fact, but 
a long-drawn-out controversy was had on the existence of the law in 
which the oleomargarine manufacturers placed themselves on record 
as endeavoring to wipe out all laws. 

Mr. Brine. Mr. Knight should be put on oath. 

The Chairman. He is simply tendering some papers. 

Mr. Knight. I was under oath when I made thatjljefore a justice 
of the peace. 

The Chairman. I was going to say that just as soon as I finish — 
and it will only take me a few moments — if an}^ one of you wants to 
offer anything that is proper, he may do so, and if any one wants to 
ask him any questions, anything that we can get in here that is ger- 
mane to the investigation may be put in. 

Q. (Addressing Mr. Knight.) I would like to have it come in now. 

Mr. Knight. No; I would like to ask Mr. Dadie a few more questions. 

The Chairman. That is all right, as long as Mr. Dadie doesn't 
object, the chairman of this committee will not object. 

Mr. Knight. Mr. Dadie won't object. I didn't come expecMng that 
this matter was coming up this morning or I should have brought 
some documents. I want to file some more interesting letters. I 
filed some last summer, but I have more which I should like to file 
with the committee. 

The Chairman. If it is anything concerning the matter in hand, 
they may be filed. 

Mr. Knight. It has. 

The Chairman. Then they ought in fairness to have a chance to 
see them and explain them. 

Mr. Knight. I would be very glad to have it explained, indeed. 

Mr. PiRRUNG. I would suggest that Mr. Knight furnish the gentle- 
men here with copies of anything that he furnishes the committee. 

The Chairman. Oh, yes; whatever I do, I want the doors and win- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 329 

dows open, and I want all the facts; and if Mr. Knight files any let- 
ters here which are signed by any of the people you represent, I want 
you to have copies of them, and I want to know all about them. 

Mr. Knight. I do not presume that it is any business secret, Mr. 
Dadie — the cost of the materials you use. It is a matter of public 
knowledge; for instance, the price of oleo oil to-day, which is pub- 
lished in the National Provision. We know what it is, and you know 
what it is. 

The Witness. I know about what it is. 

Q. You are not at all reluctant to tell the committee what the price 
of oleo oil is to-day? — A. I am not advised. I could not s^ positively, 
just now. 

Q. Well, within half a cent. — A. From 9f to lOf. 

Q. The price of oleo oil is, we will say, 10 cents. You probablj^ can 
buy it at that. About what is the price of neutral lard? — A. About 8^. 

Q. I got a quotation from you. I don't think you quote it that 
high. — A. You got a quotation from us? 

Q. Yes. 

The Witness. The gentleman is making a written statement. We 
never quote neutral lard. 

Q. What do you call it? What is the price of neutral? — A. Eight 
and one-half cents. 

Q. And what is the price of cotton-seed oil? — A. About 5 or 6 cents 
a pound — G cents a j)ound. 

Q. Now, I would like to know, as a matter of information, what 
pi'oportions in your best oleomargarine you use of oleo oil? — A. I 
would like to ask you now whether you intend to engage in the manu- 
facture of butterine or not. That is one of the secrets of our business. 

Q. If that is a secret, that is another thing. 

The Chairman. I said to start with that I didn't want any business 
secrets. 

Mr. Knight. All right. 

Q. I will concede that you use the highest priced material in the 
manufacture of your oleomargarine. I will concede the use of 10- 
cent oleo oil. That is the highest price. Now, you are asking for 
your highest priced goods 17 cents, are you not? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. There is an overrun of at least 10 per cent of milk or water or 
cream, enough to pay for the churning ? — A. You are leaving out the 
butter there. 

Q. You wouldn't use an article that was so easy to become rancid 
would you, as butter, in your fine butterine ? — A. We do not use it 
in the lower grades. We use it in the higher grades. 

Q. Do you use any neutral lard at all, or any neutral in your high- 
grade butterine? — A. Certainl3^ 

Q. That cheapens the product, anyway, somewhat, does it not, if 
3'our oleo oil is 10 cents and your neutral lard is 8 cents, and if you 
use any considerable proportion of it, it must make it cheaper? — A. 
Certainly. 

Q. That brings it down to these fats, to where at least the oleo oil, 
or the fats that we call butterine fats — they could not cost you over 9 
cents a pound, I suppose ? 

The Chairman. That has nothing to do with the question as to 
whether this article is deleterious to public health or whether it is 
being sold in fraud or outside of the law. 

Mr. Knight. My point is this. Senator: A year ago this firm of 
William J. Moxley & Co. were quoting upon the market a compound 



330 ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

called oleomargarine at 8^ cents a pound wholesale, after a tax of 2 
cents a pound had been paid upon it, leaving them a profit. Now, I 
want to get at what oleomargarine of that kind could be made of. 

Q. At that time your oleo oil, as I remember it, was 8 or 9 cents. 

The Witness. We sold it at a very slight profit. 

Mr. Knight. If that is the kind of business men you are 

Mr. PiRRUNG (addressing the witness). I wouldn't answer as to 
any particular secrets if I were you, Mr. Dadie. 

The Chairman. It could be no part of the case, because that is a 
part which I think the committee has no jurisdiction over. 

Mr. Knight. I wanted to bring out the points. 

Mr. Gleeson. I think that has no bearing on the case at all. 

Mr. Knight. You talk so much about the wholesomeness of it that 
I wanted to find out what kind of oleomargarine you could make for 
6i cents a pound. 

The Witness. You are taking the markets here to-day as against 
those of a year ago. 

Mr. Knight. I want to make this request : These people have made 
certain statements to the committee about the honesty with which 
th^'s product is sold in the city of Chicago. I want to submit a list of 
225 retail dealers of this city, and let the chairman call any 25 of 
them and question on the subject right now. They are men who will 
come in and tell you the truth about it. I will give you a list of 225 
of the retailers of Chicago, and you, Mr. Chairman, can select any 25 
of tliem and asli them what they know about the representations of 
these butter people. I know their agents are going throughout the 
city advising them to sell it for butter and ofiiering to defend them 
and pay all fines and expenses if they do it. 

Mr. Brine. May I ask the gentleman a question? 

Mr. Knight. I am not on the stand. I am not sworn. 

Mr. Brine. He has made statements there that there is absolutelj^ 
no truth in at all. 

The Chairman. It has no possible weight with the chairman of this 
committee. 

Mr. Knight. I am simply making a request — asking leave to file 
certain papers. It is a motion. 

The Chairman. He makes a statement in regard to his side of the 
case. It is not evidence and is not considered as evidence. 

Mr. Knight. The people whom I bring in will swear, all right. 

The Chairman. We have had quite a number of these people, and 
if I have time I shall not hesitate to call some, but these gentlemen I 
promised some months ago to give a hearing. I haven't been able to 
do it until to-day. You have given the other side of the case pretty well, 
Mr. Knight. Your evidence was clear and explicit, and the packages 
you brought in have been identified. 

Mr. Knight. I meant to go to the same people and get two pack- 
ages to-day, but I can send any bell boy out and get the same. 

The Chairman. That would be simply multiplying evidence, and 
there is no necessity for it. It would be simply cumulative. (Address- 
ing Mr. Knight). Do you wish to offer this now? 

Mr. Knight. I could not offer that very well until I am on the stand 
myself and make a few explanations. I would like to do that. 

The Chairman. Very well. Then keep it for the present. 

The Chairman. Mr. Dadie, you heard one of the witnesses state 
that there were about 80,000,000 pounds of butterine sold each year. 

Q. Is that all the amount you recollect? — A. Yes; that is about the 
amount for the year 1898. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 331 

Q. As shown for the year 1898. Do you think of anything else you 
want to state to this committee? — A. I would like to state this: That I 
believe the present Federal law is working an injustice to the retail 
dealer. I think he is overtaxed, and I quite agree with Mr. Pirrung 
when he says that a tax of 112 a year is sufficient to pay for all the 
expenses connected with looking after the business. The internal- 
revenue people have deputies out who make an effort to see that 
these goods are honestly and fairly sold to the customers, and the tax 
paid by the butterine interests more than covers the expense of doing 
that — a great deal more — and I think the tax on the retailers should 
be reduced. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything else? 

The Witness. I think that is all. 

Mr. Knight. There is one question I think that is germane to this 
proposition: I have here a letter head of William J. Moxley, which 
says: "Agencies, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, 
Indianapolis, Peoria, Louisville, Boston, Washington, D. C, Balti- 
more, St. Louis, and Richmond, Va." Might I be permitted to ask if 
they have branches at those cities? 

The Chairman. I don't think that is germane to the inquiry. He 
can answer if he chooses; but the question is. Is this a proper thing 
to sell to the people? Is it deleterious to health, or is it sold in fraud? 
That is the only question. Those matters are entirely outside, and I 
have had very great difficulty in getting evidence before the commit- 
tee. These gentlemen have been ready here for a long time. It is 
my fault that I didn't hear them before. So many people have been 
hard to get to come and testify as to the manufacture, because many of 
them have felt it was simply prying into their personal business; and 
I don't want, in this investigation, to lay any foundation for any wit- 
ness who is good enough to give me the benefit of his evidence for 
any prosecutions outside. 

Mr. Knight. Surely not. I will tell you why I raised that j^oint. 
It is because the point has been raised here, and they have gone into 
it, and have raised the point of the 10-cent tax that was proposed to 
be put on oleomargarine. That has been raised by themselves. They 
have opened that up and have endeavored to show you here why 
there should be no 10-cent tax on oleomargarine, and why it should 
not be taxed at all. I can show they are selling every pound of their 
product practically contrary to the laws of the State, and the people 
show their desire and preference through State legislation. It is the 
proper way, and they have done it in this State, and these men are 
fighting it. 

The Witness. If Mr. Knight will spend an afternoon in our factory, 
we will enlighten him. 

Mr. Knight. I don't need to be enlightened. I can enlighten you 
on that subject. 

Mr. Brine. Mr. Knight has not been able to convince the courts. 

Mr. Knight. You people have not been able to convince the courts 
very much, either. 

The Witness. I want to say that the internal-revenue law requires 
every retail dealer to brand the outside wrapper on his package, 
when sold, with a stamp on which is his name, his address, the city 
in which he lives, and the word "Oleomargarine" in letters one- 
fourth of an inch large, square. That stamp is furnished by William 
J. Moxley to every one of their customers free of charge. 

Mr. Knight. As I understand it, then, Senator, if I may be per- 



332 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

mitted to interpose here, you want to know nothing at ali about 
anything except the Government regulations. 

The Chairman. No; not at all. Quite the contrary. 

Mr. Knight. Then why doesn't it furnish 

The Chairman. I don't want any witness to be asked any question. 
Even in this investigation, if there-were prosecutions pending against 
the gentlemen here, I would not jjermit any question that would even 
tend to have them violate their constitutional right of incriminating 
themselves. I would not permit it. 

Mr. Knight. I understand the point. You would not want to 
make a matter of record of anything that might be used in court 
against them. Under the circumstances, then, we would be barred 
from asking these questions, I presume. 

Mr. PiRRUNG. I am not acquainted with Mr. Knight, and your 
committee ought to ask him why he takes such an interest in this 
matter. 

The Chairman. That is extraneous. 

Mr. PiRRUNG. He has asked a great many irrelevant questions. 

Mr. Knight. I will take the stand at any time you want, and you 
may ask me any questions you want to. 

The Chairman. I have no doubt it would be highly entertaining. 

Mr. Knight. I have nothing to conceal. You can ask me questions 
all day. I don't care. 



STATEMENT OF JOHN F. JELKE. 

John F. Jelke, being duly sworn, replied as follows to' questions 
put by the chairman : 

Q. What is your name, residence, and occupation? — A. John F. 
Jelke; residence, Chicago; vice-president and general manager of 
Brown & Fitts, a corporation manufacturing oleomargarine in 
Chicago. 

Q. How long have you been engaged in that business? — A. I have 
been in the butter and oleomargarine business altogether twenty- 
seven years. 

Q. Does the firm of which you are general manager deal exclusively 
in the manufacture of oleomargarine ? — A. It deals exclusively in it, 
and they are the largest churners of butterine in America. 

Q You have heard the statements of these other gentlemen engaged 
in the manufacture of oleomargarine? — A. I have not heard, except- 
ing the latter part of the statement of Mr. Dadie. 

Q. Have you anything to add as to the ingredients which have been 
testified to ? — A. I have not, other than that we make butterine that is 
so wholesome that I use it on my table and feed it to my two boys — 
one 12 years old, who weighs 115 pounds, and the other 19 and weighs 
141 pounds, and is 6 feet tall. They have used butterine all their 
lives, practically. 

Q. You make that statement simply to show that j^ou consider it 
perfectly safe and wholesome for children to use? — A. That is the 
idea. 

Q. Do you use any preservative except salt? — A. None whatever. 
No chemical of any kind is used in our factory. 

Q. Where is your factory? — A. On North Union street, 187 to 197, 
near Grand avenue. I would also say that the men in our factory 
who make the butterine use it at home in their families. I state that 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 333 

simply to show that they know that the goods that enter into the 
product are of a wholesome character. 

Q. Have you had any chemical analysis made of your particular 
brand of goods? — A. Not any of recent years. We have not consid- 
ered it necessary. There have been analyses made by the butter 
people. 

Q. Have you anj^thing to say as to the charge made of the sale of 
the small packages of oleomargarine without being properly marked, 
to give notice to the consumer? — A. Well, so far as our policy is con- 
cerned, we believe that the interests of the butterine manufacturers 
will be best served by having the goods sold for what they are to the 
consumer and let the consumer know what they are buying. Whether 
there might be some evasion of the law I couldn't state, of my own 
knowledge. 

Q. You are not a retailer? — A. I am not a retailer and never have 
been. 

Q. You don't know of any general evasions of the law? — A. I know 
nothing about the evasions of the law, other than as stated by Mr. 
Knight, who is secretary of the Dairy Union, which is opposed to the 
manufacture and sale of oleomargarine. 

Q. Have you anything further that you want to state for the benefit 
of the committee, which will represent your side of the case here? — A. 
Well, our advertising — our general advertising — wo have thousands 
of circulars and pamphlets printed, all showing that the goods are 
sold for what they are, and when these cards are hung up they adver- 
tise butterine or oleomargarine, which is practically^ the same thing. 

Q. There are different grades of oleomargarine? — A. Different 
grades; yes, sir. 

Q. In the higher grades you use some butter? — A. In the higher 
grades some butter and cream are used. 

Q. And in the lower grades some of the other fats? — A. Well, I 
would say here that we do not make anything of what we might call 
a low grade. We don't make cheap, shoddy goods of any kind. 

Q. What can a low grade be made of? — A. A low grade of butter- 
ine — and, by the way, a very large quantity of it is used — a low grade 
is made bj^ the use of cotton-seed oil. It is a perfectly wholesome 
oil, but it is a vegetable oil, and we contend it will not carry the 
butter flavor, and for that reason we do not use it. It is used largely 
as a filler, and for cheapness. The other manufacturers — all of them, 
I believe — use more or less cotton-seed oil 

Q. I understand you to say that you people comply with the inter- 
nal-revenue law at the factory, and, so far as you have any personal 
information, your customers do in selling? — A. Yes, sir. The tax 
we pay will show the extent of our business. We are the largest tax- 
payers of any of the factories in this country. Our taxes for the past 
year have exceeded $300,000. 

Q. Do you think of anything further that you want to state?— A 
Well, as regards the taxes which are cliarged the retail and wholesale 
dealer, they were imposed at the instigation and through the efforts 
of the butter peoj^le, who are opposed to our product on account of its 
economical value, knowing that it is a perfectly wholesome, pure 
food, that can be produced practically at a less cost than butter. 
The smallest shop in this town, in order to sell one pound of oleomar- 
garine, is required to pay a license of $48 per annum, which is larger 
than the liquor tax for the biggest saloon in Chicago. 

Q. That is, larger than the Government tax? — A. Larger than the 



334 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Government tax. The people who require a cheap, fatty food are 
thus debarred from buying it because they can not find it at their 
shop at which they are accustomed to trade, and it also adds expense 
to the sale of the product that interferes very largely with its sale. I 
understand there has been some testimony as to the amount of tax 
that should be assessed the retail dealer in oleomargarine. The 
smaller the tax the more general the sale, and the larger will be the 
revenue that the Government will derive from the sale of oleomar- 
garine; the smaller the dealer's tax, I mean. 

The Chaieman (Addressing those assembled). Can anyone else sug- 
gest any question? 

(There was no response. ) 

The Chaieman. Mr. Knight, do you wish to ask any questions? 

Mr. Knight. They can not answer anything without incriminat- 
ing themselves. I might ask Mr. Jelke if any of their labels has the 
work "Oleomargarine" on it any place. That — I mean to say your 
wi-appers. 

The Witness. I would say we had those printed with the word 
" Oleomagarine " on, and further that not a single pound of oleomar- 
garine can be sold lawfully by the retail dealer unless the word 
"Oleomargarine" is on the outside wrapper, in type of a size large 
enough so that anyone but a blind man can read it. 

Mr. Knight. That is all right, but that is not your part of it. I 
am talking about your iiarchment wrappers. Do you ever put the 
word "Oleomargarine" on them? 

Answer. We do, and have had it printed on; yes, sir. 

Q. What do you do with them? — A. We use them right along, every 
day, and if you come over there you can see them to-day. 

Mr. Knight. I have a sample of yours that I want to introduce here 
this afternoon, which you sent out, showing your wrappers, and I 
fail to find the word "Oleomargarine" on that. 

The Witness. That simply shows the face or surface of the goods. 
As far as that is concerned, the retailer is required b}^ law to wrap 
them in another piece of paper showing the word "Oleomargarine." 

As Mr. Knight has put a question to me, I would like to put a 
question to him, and that is: Has he ever run a creamery? 

Mr. Knight. I have never run a creamery; no, sir. I have been 
connected, however, with that business. I have been in a great many 
and I have studied the matter. I think I know something about the 
business. 

The Witness. I would like to ask another question. 

Mr. Knight. Certainly. 

The Witness. And that is: Are the most effective laws that inter- 
fere witli the sale of the oleomargarine the so-called anticolor laws? 

Mr. Knight. The most effective laws? 

The Witness. Yes. 

Mr. Knight. They are the only laws I know of that have ever been 
any good. 

The Witness. And the color used is the same as that used in butter, 
is it not? 

Mr. Knight. Just the same ; as the same kind of color might be used 
in making counterfeit money that makes the genuine. 

The Witness. I see you advertise on the first page of your paper, 
and have for a long time, Wells-Richardson Company's improved 
butter color. 

Mr. Knight. Yes. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 335 

The Witness. And you claim in your paper, the Chicago Dairy 
Produce, that the prize winners at most of the places where butter is 
exhibited have been users of the Wells- Richardson Companj^'s butter 
color. 

Mr. Knight. Yes; that is right. That is admitted. 

The Witness. And why is that butter color used in butter? 

Mr. Knight. That is used in butter to make a uniform color. There 
is no necessity of using butter color in general, and if the conventions 
were held in general there probably would not be any advertisements 
like this; but the conventions are largely held during the winter. 

The Witness. You advertise Wells-Richardson Company's butter 
color in May and June? 

Mr. Knight. Yes. 

The Witness. Is there some white butter made, then? 

Mr. Knight. To keep the butter uniform, in case the cows should 
be of such breed that the butter would be white, they use a color to 
obtain uniformity. 

The Witness. It is a fraud to use it, is it? 

Mr. Knight. A fraud to use it? 

The Witness. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Knight. It is a fraud to use a thing to make something look 
like some other article; but I never heard anj^body being sorry for 
buying yellow butter, thinking he had got something that was worth 
less than he thought he was getting. If you have ever known of an 
instance of that kind I would like to have you recall it, but I never 
have heard of it, Mr. Jelke. So far as we are concerned, the dairy- 
men, in this fight, the question of healthfulness will not be raised. I 
don't mean to say that your product is healthful, or anything of that 
kind, because there are a lot of people who do not believe it, and if I 
were to say it they would raise the deuce with me. 

Mr. Gleeson. Do you think that would be an important question? 

Mr. Knight. Why, no. 

STATEMENT OF W. C. POTTER. 

W. C. Potter, being duly sworn, replied as follows to questions 
put by the chairman : 

Q. What is your name, residence, and occupation? — A. W. C. 
Potter; Chicago; manager of the butterine department for Swift & Co. 

Q. How long have you been engaged in that business? — A. Nine 
years. 

Q. As manager of that department have you charge of the manu- 
facture? — A. I do. 

Q. You have heard the statement here as to the ingredients that 
compose oleomargarine? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Have you anything to add to what has already been said? — A. 
No, sir. We use the same materials as have been already mentioned, 
and we use no preservatives other than salt. 

Q. And you use the same coloring matter that they testified to? — A. 
The same coloring matter as has been previously testified to — the 
Wells- Richardson color. 

Q. Where is your factory? — A. We have two factories, one located 
at Chicago and one at Kansas City. 

Q. Does your management of the butterine department take in both, 
or do you simply manage that department here? — A. Just as far as 
Chicago is concerned. 



336 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Q. Have you anything whicli you desire to add that you think of 
as interesting to the business you represent and that you want this 
committee to know? — A. In putting up the butterine we pack it not 
only as shown here, but also in the 1-pound print, as has been men- 
tioned before, and I want to offer in testimony the fact that every 
wrapper, every printed wrapper, that we put around a print or roll of 
oleomargarine has the word "Oleomargarine" printed very plainly 
thereon, and if it is desired we can offer in testimony some of those 
wrappers. There was a question or a statement made that the manu- 
facturers of butterine — this was not under oath, but it was a state- 
ment made — were guaranteeing protection to all dealers who sold 
butterine as butter, and I want to go on record for our firm as saying 
that the policy of our house is to create a legitimate demand for but- 
terine and sell the product strictly on its merits, and for what it is, 
and that we have never sent out any letters of that kind. We have 
never made any promises of that character, and every influence that 
we can use we exert to have it sold just exactly for what it is. 

Mr. Knight. May I say a word? I want to corroborate what he 
says. I don't think I made the broad assertion. We have been 
unable to find in any literature or in any way that Swift & Co. have 
ever made that guaranty. I want to say that because I don't want 
to reflect upon that company, which apparently has not entered into 
that part of it. 

The Chairman. Have you anything further to suggest? 

The Witness. No; I have not. 

(A recess was here taken until 2.30 p. m.) 

2.30 P. M. 

The committee met pursuant to recess. 

Present: As before. 



STATEMENT OF CHARLES H. THOMPSON. 

Charles H. Thompson, being duly sworn, replied as follows to 
questions of the chairman: 

Q. What is your name? — A. Charles H. Thompson. 

Q. And your business? — A. Manager of the butterine department 
of the G. H. Hammond Company, of Hammond, Ind. 

Q. Where do you manufacture butterine? — A. Hammond, Ind. 

Q. Hammond, Ind.? — A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did I understand you to say that you are in the managing 
department, so that you know how it is made from beginning to end? — 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You have heard the statements of the other gentlemen who are 
in the same business? — A. Yes, sir; I have. 

Q. Have you any statement you wish to make in regard to the 
matter? — A. Yes, sir; I have a statement drawn up that I would like 
to offer as our evidence. 

(Said statement is in the words and figures following, to wit:) 

The prejudice against oleomargarine that originally existed in the 
public mind has been substantially entirely dissipated as the method 
of production, the ingredients of which it is composed, and the 
excellence and nutritive chacacter of the product have becorne 
known. The only opposition existing at this time may fairly be said 
to be limited to that part of the agricultural class of our people engaged 
in the manufacture of butter from ei-eam and milk, and therefore 
this opi)osition becomes simply trade j-ivalry. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 337 

It is not infrequent in business methods to deciy the product of a 
competitor, and at times this method of opposition is carried to 
extreme and extravagant lengths; but no sensible person now 
believes that oleomargarine, made of proper materials, by persons 
understanding the science thereof, and under advantageous circum- 
stances, is either a dangerous or unhealthful product. The assertion 
made in times past that oleomargarine is made of bones, scraps, and 
refuse generally is no longer accepted when the product comes from 
the houses of established reputation and approved standing for 
excellence of x^^'ocl^ict. Indeed, it may fairly be claimed that the 
great body of the public thoroughlj^ understand and appreciate that 
most brands of oleomargarine are produced in surroundings of such 
cleanliness and under such careful supervision that few, if any, 
dairies and creameries could hope to approach them in that regard. 
The basic elements of oleomargarine, properly made, must negative 
the idea of adulteration. The article produced by the G. H. Ham- 
mond Company is made from oleo oil, which is simply the oil 
extracted from the caul fat of the beef; neutral lard, which, as its 
name implies, is essentially a pure lard; cream, milk, salt, butter, 
and Wells, Richardson & Co.'s butter color. The precedent for the 
use of the latter ingredient, which is purely a vegetable compound, is 
the universal use of it by all farmers producing butter for the market 
from milk and cream alone, and the use of the butter color named, 
which has extended over many, many years, is but the adoption of a 
custom that has received the sanction of universal use and approval. 

Taking these ingredients and manufacturing them under the most 
approved scientific principles (and it may be said that in this country 
to-day the oleomargarine jDroduced of these ingredients, under favor- 
able circumstances and surroundings, represents the highest develop- 
ment of the art), it is idle to talk of either adulteration or of the use 
of ingredients either injurious to the public health or in anywise tend- 
ing to the prejudice of the public happiness. That the public recog- 
nizes the superior excellence of the article is demonstrated by the 
constantly increasing use of it. The oleo oil, extracted from the very 
organ of the cow thi-ough Avhich comes milk in its natural state, is 
nothing more nor less condensed than the fat or oil found in cow's 
milk, which is the basis of cow butter. 

Neutral lard, a natural food product, can not in the nature of things 
be an adulteration. Taking these two bases there is added salt and 
butter, and these combined elements are then churned in milk and 
cream. It has, of course, been observed that the milk and cream thus 
used furnishes in large degree a market for the natural product of the 
dairy farmer, and when all these ingredients are manufactured in 
surroundings of absolute cleanliness and under a formula that is 
mathematically accurate, what becomes of the suggestion that oleo- 
margarine is an adulterated food product? In what does the adulter- 
ation consist? 

It has been suggested that the public demand for this product is 
increasing daily. It is, of course, recognized by everyone that the 
manufacture of oleomargarine yields a handsome revenue to the Gov- 
ernment, the tax upon this product being no less than 2 cents a pound. 
No one is deceived as to the character of the article, and no attempt 
is made to impose on anyone. That it is oleomargarine is announced 
in letters so plainly' and conspicuously put upon the packages that he 
who runs may read, and yet the demand for the article, when pro- 
duced by houses of established reputation and approved standing, is 
F P 22 



338 ADULTEEATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

constantly growing and enlarging. What, tlien, becomes of the sug- 
gestion that oleomargarine is an adulterated, food product, imposed 
upon people by the adoption of devious ways and uncertain and 
improper methods? And this, after all, is the ultimate suggestion of 
the opposition, such as now exists to oleomargarine. And what does 
this opposition ask ? Practically that a food product which has been 
known and used in Europe for a great many years, and which has 
finally, in the face of bitter and ceaseless opposition, forced its way to 
public appreciation and regard in this country, shall be prohibited, 
in order that the dairy farmer and the creamery owner may be bene- 
fited. The thousands of workmen employed in the manufacture of 
oleomargarine are to be told to find some other employment. Mil- 
lions of users of oleomargarine, unable to pay the price demanded for 
cow butter, must go without a product that has received the sanction 
and approval of intelligent investigation in order that the farmer may 
possibly get an enhanced price for his butter, and that the Govern- 
ment shall be deprived of the very handsome revenue that it now 
receives on the production of oleomargarine. 

The G. H. Hammond Company respectfully asks a personal investi- 
gation of the ingredients of which it manufactures its oleomarga- 
rine, the place in which the same is manufactured and the surround- 
ings thereof, and the care and supervision expended in producing its 
commodity. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

The Witness. I would like to add, in addition to that, that we do 
not encourage or defend the retail dealer in selling butterine as 
butter. We have never encouraged it, and will not protect them in 
that, and will have nothing to do with anything of that sort; and 
when we put up goods in printed wrappers, the printed wrappers have 
the word "Oleomargarine" on the wrapper. 

Q. You don't use anything in the manufacture of your goods differ- 
ent from that as testified to by the others'?— A. No, sir; we do not. 

Q. And you use no preservatives except salt? — A. None whatever. 

The Chairman. I don't think of anything further. You have cov- 
ered in your statement practically everything. 

Answer. Yes, sir; I think so. 



STATEMENT OF HENRY C. PIRRUNG— Recalled. 

Henry C. Pirrung resumed the stand, and further testified as 
follows : 

The Chairman. You have been sworn? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

The question came up this morning about the illegal sale of butter- 
ine by retail dealers, and the impression was left here that butterine 
was mainly or largely sold fictitiously — in other words, for something 
it was not. Recognizing that I am under oath, I don't know of a sin- 
gle instance Avhere that charge has been made by the consumer him- 
self. On the contrary, it has always been by somebody who is self- 
ishly engaged in the eradication or extermination of the sale and 
manufacture of oleomargarine. It is brought by someone interested 
in a political way, anxious for financial gain; but the consumer him- 
self, to my knowledge, has never entered a complaint about the ille- 
gitimate sale of oleomargarine. 

In regard to the finding of coloring matter in butterine, I also want 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 339 

to state that in 1113^ experience of twelve years I have never found a 
single instance where there was a chemist who ever brought into the 
trial of a butterine case the actual coloring matter into court for the 
purpose of having it viewed by the jury and the court, and presented 
a quantity as evidence. Never in a single instance has that coloring 
matter been brought, as extracted from a sample, into court, but 
usually they satisfy themselves with a trace. 

I also read in — I can't recollect the name of the paper — that tubercu- 
losis was prevalent in the dairy herds of Illinois to such an extent 
that 60 per cent of the cows were affected by it, of the higher grade 
cows, such as Holsteins and Jerseys, and that this examination ema- 
nated from the governor of Illinois against the sworn statements of 
people who are not interested in oleomargarine, that oleomargarine 
was absolutely pure and healthful. 

I think those are the points I wanted to bring out which were not 
covered in my testimony of this morning. 

Mr. Knight. What was the intention of that point about tubercu- 
losis? 

Answer. To show that the milk and milk products directly con- 
sumed in their entirety were affected by tuberculous cattle, while 
butterine was claimed by you and others to be healthful. 

Mr. Knight. We do not claim it to be healthful. 

The Witness. You have asserted it. 

Mr. Knight. We do not raise it, or assert it, or admit it. We do 
not raise the question. 

The Witness. Do you deny it? 

Mr. Knight. We do not take any recognition of it at all. 

The Witness. We do not deny it. 

Mr. Brine. Is this to go into the record? 

The Chairman. It is not material, and yet in one sense it is. It 
illustrates the point he makes. 

Mr. Brine. It is all right if it is regarded as a part of the examina- 
tion. I didn't know whether it was to be considered as an outside 
remark or not. 

The Chairman. I open the door to have everything go in, but noth- 
ing except statements under oath will have any weight with the com- 
mittee, ©f course. 

Mr. Knight. The only point is that people come in here and get 
certain things into the record that go unexplained as representing the 
other side. 

Mr. Brine. You are a part of the commission, are you? 

Mr. Knight. I am an outsider, who has the same right that any 
outsider has in a matter where his interests are affected. What I 
want to know is why the point of this tuberculosis was raised here. 
The matter had not been brought in before that I know of, and I 
wanted to understand the reason of the oleomargarine people rais- 
ing that point. 

The Chairman. That is a matter of argument. 

Mr. Knight. What is it intended to prove? 

The Chairman. I say it is a matter of argument for j^ou on each 
side. If that is true, you might argue that there might not be so 
much tuberculosis in the milk as there would be in the fat, and he 
might argue that there would be more in the milk than there would 
be in the fat. 

Mr. Knight. As he uses the milk and fat, I don't see where he has 
got the occasion 



340 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 

Tlie Chairman. That is for him to take care of. 

The Witness. I am glad j^ou brought it out. Every beef cow in the 
yards here in Chicago, or in any packing house prominently known, 
is inspected under Government and State supervision, and I want to 
say to you that no dairy cow is inspected in a like manner. 

Mr. Knight. I see. 

The Witness. Exactly. 

Mr. Knight. You use milk in oleomargarine, do you not? 

The Witness. But we pasteurize it. 

Mr. Knight. Pasteurization effects nothing in tuberculosis at all. 
If you will look up your authorities 

The Chairman. That is a matter of argument, Mr. Knight. 

Mr. Knight. Then, I will ask you 

The Witness. Now, wait a minute. 

Mr. Knight (continuing). If you claim that pasteurization kills the 
tubercular germs 

The Witness. Now, for the sake of the gentleman's information and 
for my own, I was led to believe this morning that the information the 
committee seeks for is such as will have weight regarding oleomarga- 
rine before the House of Representatives and the Senate. Is that if? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

The Witness. And I don't want to go into any trifling argument. 

Mr. Knight. You opened it up. 

The Witness. I made my point. Now I refuse to answer any more 
questions. [Addressing Mr. Knight.] You are done for, as far as I 
am concerned. 

Mr. Knight. All right. Let that be made a matter of record. 

The Witness (addressing the stenographer). Did you put that in 
the record — that he is done for, as far as I am concerned? 

Mr. Knight. The only thing is, I don't think it is fair to go down 
to the House of Representatives with a lot of statements that are not 
explained. 

Mr. Dadie. We do not come here and question your statements. 

Mr. Knight. You had the privilege of coming here. 

The Chairman. Is there any other witness present? 



STATEMENT OF CHARLES A. STERNE. 

Charles A. Sterne, being duly sworn, replied as follows to ques- 
tions put by the chairman: 

Q. What is your name? — A. Charles A. Sterne. 

Q, Where do you live? — A. Here in Chicago. 

Q. What is your business? — A. I am in the general commission 
business on the board of trade, packing-house products and supplies. 

Q. You have heard the statements here as to how these are made? — 
A. I know how they are made. I have heard the statements made 
here. 

The Chairman. We have all agreed on what the ingredients are. 
They have stated the ingredients here, so that there is no question 
about them. Do you use anything different from what is commonly 
used in the manufacture of these goods? 

Answer. We are not manufacturing ourselves. We are acting as 
commission merchants in buying for the butterine people. 

The Chairman. Oh, I understand. I don't know of anything spe- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 3-11 

cial, then, Mr. Sterne, that I care to question yon about. If you have 
any statement to make, you may make it. 

The Witness. I only want to emphasize the strict examination and 
purity that is required, not onlj^by the manufacturer of the raw mate- 
rial, but bj'' the manufacturer of the finished product, in all materials 
which t^o into butterine. Our experience has been quite extensive in 
that direction. We know just what they require and what it is made 
of, and how it is made. The simplicity of the manufacture and its 
unifoi'm cleanliness are a natural consequence. It can not be other- 
wise. 

Mr. PiRRUNG. If the chairman will pardon me. Mr. Sterne came 
here at my solicitation. It was through his father and through his 
own knowledge that he has ascertained the difference in the value of 
cattle prior to the making of butterine and the present time, because 
it was attempted to be shown here to-day that oleomargarine was a 
detriment to the farmer or dairyman; that he was even injured by the 
manufacture of oleomargarine. Now, Mr. Sterne is a broker in all 
these lines, not only in the butterine lines, but also in kindred jiroducts 
coming from the animal, and we want to attempt to illustrate through 
him tiiat oleomargarine has advanced and enhanced the value of not 
only the pig but the beef to such an extent that they are worth a 
great deal more money than before the commencement of the manu- 
facture of oleomargarine, and instead of being a detriment to the 
farmer it is a boon. 

The Witness. By way of comparison. Senator, if you will permit 
me. A short time ago I wrote to Mr. Alvord, chief of the dairy divi- 
sion, for an estimate or official statistics as to the production of the 
butter of this country, simply for my own information. He said he 
had no statistics, positively, but made an approximation of his own, 
based upon what he considered a reasonable foundation, that the pro- 
duction of the butter of this country was in the neighborhood of 
1,500,000,000 pounds, whereas the production of butterine last year 
was less than 88,000,000 j)ounds, a little less than 6 per cent of the 
production of the butter of the country, which shows the small pro- 
portion or effect upon the market; while, on the other hand, the effect 
of the demand for the fats from the cattle and the hogs has so affected 
the price of them as to affect every State in the Union. There are 
exceptions, perhaps, in some butter districts that would not feel the 
good effect of the advance in cattle to the same extent that they would 
feel the harm upon butter if such would be the case. 

The Chairman. That simply goes to the question as to whether or 
not one business is injuring another, and I don't think that, under the 
scope of this investigation, I am called upon to inquire into it. If this 
business absolutely ruins some other business or absolutely helps 
some other business, I don't think, under the resolution, I should 
inquire into it, although it is interesting. 

Tlie Witness. The good effect seems to me more universal than the 
bad effect. 

The Chairman. What I was saying was that 1 am onlj^ to inquire 
what is deleterious to health, what is being sold for what it is not. 

The Witness. When you come to the question of deleterious sub- 
stances, England no doubt has as good food laws as any other country, 
and the largest proportion of these oleo fats and neutral which is 
manufactured here is sent to the other side, where enormous quanti- 
ties, perhaps — well, I would't venture to say how much more than 
this country — enters into consumption over there, and a great pro- 



342 ADULTEEATIOJSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

portion of it right in England, and certainly if she recognizes butterine 
as palatable 

The Chairman. That is an argument along the same line. That is 
very well to have in the record, but I don't care to go any further with 
it. Here in this record the question is raised as to the purity and 
healthfulness of these goods. That question is not even raised, and 
if it should be raised the evidence that has already been furnished 
would be overwhelming that it is a healthy food product; but the 
question is, Is it being sold for what it is? This gentleman, Mr. 
Knight, represents the dairy people. He does not raise the question 
of its being healthful or unhealthful, but if it is raised, the evidence 
you have already put in shows, the analysis, so far as it has gone, that 
it is healthy. 

Mr. Knight. Inasmuch as that is in the record, I would like to ask 
a question of him. 

The Chairman. Very well. Ask the question and I will see if I 
will allow it. 

Mr. Knight. I want to ask him if he sets up a claim that the manu- 
facture of oleomargarine is responsible for the present high price of 
meats to the people. 

The Witness. I don't think that has anything to do with the ques- 
tion. 

Mr. Knight. If it has raised the price of cattle, it certainly does. 

The Witness. I think it has made the price of fats much higher, 
and I think that the price of fats very materially aifects the price of 
beef. 

Mr. Knight. In that case you are responsible for my paying 5 or 6 
or 10 cents a pound more for beefsteak than I did a while ago. 

The Witness. What are you paying for chickens? 

Mr. Knight. I don't know. We butter people can not afford to eat 
chicken. 

Mr. Brine. What is the use of taking up time with that? . 

Mr. Knight. You people are raising the point of your having bene- 
fited the poor man. 

Mr. PiRRUNG. We are raising the points that the fats that went 
almost into the refuse barrel 

Mr. Knight. That is it. 

Mr. PiRRUNG (continuing). That were worth 4 or 5 cents a pound, 
are now worth 6 or 8 cents a pound. 

The Chairman. Cotton-seed oil was wasted. 

Mr. PiRRUNG. That went into the rivers a few years ago. It is now 
being used for salads. 

Mr. Knight. Olive oil. 

The Chairman (addressing the witness). Have you anything fur- 
ther to say? 

The Witness. Concerning the sale of oleomargarine for what it is, 
it seems to me, from all inside information I have — and I am very 
close to those manufacturers of butterine— is that their earnest efforts 
are directed in the direction of having the public realize that they are 
not endeavoring to sell them anything but butterine; to create a 
demand, if you please, for butterine, and not for butter. It would be 
an odious comparison to compare it with some of the butter. I know 
that. 

The Chairman (addressing Mr. Brine). Do you think of any other 
questions you want to ask him or any other points you want to make? 

Mr. Brine. Nothing, Mr. Chairman. 



ADULTERATION OP FOOD PRODUCTS. 343 

Mr. Caylor. At some future time, before this committee, there are 
certain lines of investijjfation which tliis has developed. It certainly 
is an interesting thing, and the members of both Houses of Congress 
ought to know where the benefits are to the masses in an article. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Caylor. And the general industry that it helps or keeps out or 
suppresses. The greatest good to the greatest number is a funda- 
mental principle of our Government. In accordance with that idea 
we would like to furnish, at a different time, with your consent, statis- 
tics showing the ramifications of this business. 

The Chairman. That will be all right. That will not take much 
time, and it can be filed with the committee and go in as a part of the 
record. There will be no objection to that at any time, and the com- 
mittee will not close its hearings until Congress meets, and perhaps 
not then. 

The Witness. May I ask. Is this investigation particularly directed 
toward butterine, without any reference to butter? Are you making 
an investigation with butter as a comparison? 

The Chairman. Yes; I intend to do so. 

The Witness. Then I was going to raise the question as to whether 
you had made any arrangements, or whether the committee had made 
any arrangements, to visit anj^ of these washed-butter places? 

The Chairman. I want to, but I have been waiting to have Senator 
Harris come with me. I intend to visit those in this city before I go 
away this time. There are two places, I believe, within easy reach of 
my hotel. 

Mr. Brine. What is that, butter or butterine? 

The Witness. Washed butter. 

The Chairman. I was not speaking about that, but I mean to take 
it up. I expected to have some names given me, and I want to see 
whether that is a clean, healthy process, because everybody is inter- 
ested in the same thing, and Mr. Knight, who represents the dairy- 
men, of course would be interested in the s^ne thing. 

Mr. Knight. I recommended it to you and gave you the names of 
the people. I recommended that you summon them. 

The Chairman. I said I would, but I forgot it. 

Mr. Knight. In fact, we brought them up here. 

The Chairman. That I didn't know, 

Mr. Knight. Mr. Henshaw was here, and two manufacturers were 
here, and you were too busy to take it up. 

The Chairman. Henshaw is a butterine man? 

Mr. Knight. He has reformed. 

The Witness. There is more money in the butter business. 

Mr. Knight. I have some records here which are quite new in this 
connection, and I would like to be called and sworn and file these 
papers; and if any of the gentlemen want to ask anything about it, I 
have brought some more packages here which have not been opened. 
My boy got them on his way up here from some of these immaculate 
people up here that sell butterine for butter. 

Mr. Brine. Did you buy them yourself? 

Mr. Knight. I can summon the boy. 

Mr. Brine. Are you offering these to testify as to their correctness, 
from what the boy bought? How will you offer evidence of what is 
in there? 

Mr. Knight. It is in there all right. 



344 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Brine. How are you describing its contents, if you say you 
haven't opened it? 

Mr. Knight. I leave it to the judgment of the Senator himself. 

Mr. Brine. You are giving testimony that you know what is inside 
of a thing that you haven't opened. 

Mr. Knight. I am asking him to open the packages. 

Mr. Brine. You recede from the position you took a moment ago. 
I don't see any use in tendering samples if you didn't get them your- 
self. 

Mr. Gleeson. Is it in line with the testimony 

Mr. Knight. It is in line with the other testimony of this morning 
of how honestly these goods are sold. I will get the boy here that 
bought them. 

Mr. Brine. I wish to object to the introduction of these samples, on 
the ground that they have not been identified by the party who offers 
them. 

Mr. Knight. I will bring the boy here who bought them. 

Mr. Brine. You say the boy did the business? 

Mr. Knight. I can bring the boy in fifteen minutes. 

Mr. Brine. You have not your boy here? 

Mr. Knight. I had him here, but I let him go after waiting twenty 
minutes for you people to get through — a boy I sent out to buy this 
butter. 

Mr. Brine, How do you know what you have got there? 

Mr. Knight. Let Senator Mason open it and decide what it is, and 
I will have it analyzed. 

Mr. Brine. Some boy you hold as responsible as this gentleman 
here? 

Mr. Knight. He is just as responsible as some of them; yes, sir. 

Mr. Brine. What has that got to do with it? The introduction of 
these samples I object to. 

The Chairman. It would have to be identified. 

Mr. Knight. If there tfe any question, I will bring my witnesses. If 
the Senator will wait, I will send for my witnesses. There is no 
monkey business about this. 

STATEMENT OF C. Y. KNIGHT. 

C. Y. Knight, being duly sworn, testified as follows: 

I want to offer as evidence here, under oath, as a matter of record, 
a certain letter sent by our attorney to Messrs. N. Bank & Co., Chi- 
cago, 111., a copy of one of 1,700 letters sent to retail dealers who 
handled oleomargarine in the year 1898 and 1899, and up to July 1. 

The Chairman. This is signed by Hugh B. Murray, attorney for 
the Illinois Dairy Union. 

Mr. Knight. Yes, sir; I will read it or let the clerk read this letter. 

Mr. Brine. Why not let it go into the files? 

Mr. Knight. You ought to hear it. It is good, rich stuff. You 
gentlemen have had free sway. You have had everything your own 
way 

The Chairman. Let us get down to business. This is a letter from 
the attorney for the Illinois Dairy Union, stating that lie has been 
employed by the union to prosecute violations of the dairy laws, and 
I will receive it and file it simply to save time, and then let the ques- 
t ion be raised hereafter with my associates on the committee whether 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 345 

or not it is material or pertinent. I think myself it is, if it is the 
foundation of something that goes to show that there is some defect 
in the execution of the present law. 

Mr. Dadie. Will you permit me a question? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Dadie. I would like to know who the Illinois Dairy Union is 
composed of? 

The Chairman. This witness, perhaps, can answer. 

The Witness. The Illinois Dairy Union — the members who pay the 
money into the association are largely creamery men. 

Mr. Brine. Creamerj^ men? 

Mr. Knight. Yes. 

Mr. Brine. Is it incorporated? 

Answer. No, sir; it is not. It is a branch and works as an auxiliary 
to the National Dairy Union. 

Mr. Dadie. How many members has it got? 

Mr. Knight. I think there is a membership of about 75, but I don't 
know that I came here to testify as to what the Dairy Union is. 

The Chairman. Oh, no. You need not answer at all if you don't 
want to. Let me see what you have to file. 

Mr. Caylor. We don't want to confuse the witness. We wouldn't 
do it for the world; but this Dairy Union, is it interested in any other 
dairj^ product except butter? 

Mr. Knight. No, sir. The Illinois Dairj^ Union was formed for the 
purpose of obtaining and enforcing the dairy laws of this State. 

Q. Do you enforce the milk laws? — A. No, sir; the milk business, 
Mr. Caylor, and the butter business are two separate branches, so far 
as supplies are concerned. Different men are engaged in them. They 
have their organization, and we have ours for butter, and they have 
theirs for milk. 

Q. The organization you represent has nothing to do with the laws 
in regard to the adulteration of milk? — A. No, sir. 

Q. Just laws in regard to the manufacture and sale of butter. Is 
that right? — A. We sometimes help them out in their legislation. 

Mr. Brine. Do you do anything with cheese? 

Mr. Knight. No, sir; nothing except butter. 

The Chairman. Do you want to file those letters? 

Mr. Knight. Yes. There is a letter I want made a part of the rec- 
ord, signed by William J. Moxley and sent out as a reply, as is shown 
by the tenor of the letter. 

Mr. Brine. These documents, Mr. Chairman, are going to form a 
part of the record and will assume the shape of authoritative 
documents. 

The Chairman. Not necessarily so. I say, under the ruling I do 
not admit them. I simply keep them, to have 

Mr. Brine. The authenticity of them should be proved before they 
go into any record. Who knows that this is W. J. Moxley's letter? 

Mr. Knight. I do. This is a card signed by Brown & Fitts. I think 
the original is in the possession of one of the food commissioners, who 
was here yesterday, but I will make affidavit that I read proof to it, 
and that that was taken from the original. 

Mr. Brine. How do you know it was sent out by Brown & Fitts? 

Mr. Knight. Well, it was signed by them, and it was post- 
marked 

Question. How do you know it was signed by them? 

Mr. Knight. Their name was at the bottom. 



346 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Brine. Yes; and yours might be at the bottom of a note for 
$1,000. 

Mr. Knight. Yes ; somebody might forge it. If people forge their 
names 

Mr. Brine. Is this an identification of these documents? 

The Witness. This has not been run as a court of law. I have been 
before the committee 

Mr. Brine. I am not criticising tlie court. 

The Chairman. Anything that is offered — anyone who has anj^ 
interest in it is entitled to see it before it goes in. 

Mr. Brine. Certainly. 

Mr. Knight. Surely. 

The Chairman. I don't see — to be perfectly frank with you, Mr. 
Knight — I don't see what bearing it would have on the question of 
whether the goods are being sold in violation of the United States 
law, or whether 

Mr. Knight. United States law? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Knight. 1 will tell j^ou, Senator. I understood that this com- 
mittee was looking around for some method of obtaining or construct- 
ing national legislation that would assist the State laws, and looking 
for violations of the State laws, to see where we needed legislation. 

The Chairman. Suppose j^ou would take up that question. Then 
I would have to follow it up into the question of whether the State 
law is constitutional or not, and consider all of the legal aspects of 
the case. There is no objection to their being on file, where the other 
members of the committee may see them, and I will not keep out 
anything that anyone wants to offer. But I say now that I don't see 
where it is material to show that the food is deleterious to health or 
is sold in fraud of the public. This is the language of the resolution : 

Therefore the committee [describing the committee] are instructed to investi- 
gate and report what, if any, foods are sold that are deleterious to public health, 
and what foods, if any, are adulterated and sold to defraud the consumer. 

That is about the language. I can't give the exact language. There 
is no objection to these papers being filed, and you had better keep 
them, because in doing up the papers we might lose them. You had 
better keep them until they are placed on file, when the committee 
makes its report. 

Mr. Brine. Would it be proper to have a protest put in against the 
filing of any unidentified papers? 

The Chairman. Oh, certainly. 

Mr. Brine. So that the gentlemen who read this record will know 
that these are simply papers handed in by Mr. Knight, with the state- 
ment that they had been signed by somebody or other. 

Mr. Knight. Do they want to deny it? I suppose they don't have 
to, of course. 

The Chairman. Have you anything else, Mr. Knight? 

Mr. Knight. I have one of Brown & Fitts's. I raised the point 
this morning that the word "oleomargarine" did not aj^pear on any 
of their papers. I suppose some intelligent gentleman with lots of 
money has gotten them up for his own benefit, but I fail to find the 
word "butterine," or "oleomargarine," or anything of that kind on 
it [handing paper to the chairman]. 

The Chairman. Does the law require that they shall be so marked? 

Mr. Knight. No; but my claim is, when thej^ are compelled to put 
the name "Oleomargarine" on them, that they leave every possible 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 347 

loophole for the retail dealer to commit a fraud on the people — that 
they go and suggest to him the putting up of oleomargarine in plain 
wrappers. 

Mr. Brine. Do you contend that this is a breach of the law on their 
part, to not put the word "Oleomargarine" on the paper? 

Mr. Knight. No, sir. 

Mr. Brine. What is the matter with their doing what they want to? 

Mr. Knight. I believe it is the opinion of the chairman that we can 
not cite any law unless it is constitutional — unless its constitutionality 
is proven. 

The Chairman. Oh, no; you do not understand me. I am letting 
all your papers go in. I simply expressed the opinion now that I 
didn't see — now, take that which is an advertisement of their jmckages. 
If it is simply to show that their packages are not marked, when the 
law does not require it, it would not be material in that particular. 
If you: want to offer a bill or an amendment requiring them to mark 
it on these packages, then this would be material, but there is no law 
requiring it now. 

Mr. Knight. There is, or has been, in our State — yes, there is 
now, so far as that is concerned, a law in existence regarding every 
package being marked — -every package and the contents, and each 
package inside. 

Mr. Brine. This is the Federal law? 

Mr. Knight. This is the Federal law we are talking about. 

The Chairman. You have offered these, and I will be glad to have 
them filed. 

Mr. Knight. I don't know as, under the circumstances, there is 
any use in filing them, because we will present them to Congress in 
due time anyway. 

Mr. Brine. Will you date it? 

Mr. Knight. There are different ways of presenting them. 

I would like, for the information of the committee — I wasn't expect- 
ing to present this certified resol-ution — but I say, for the information 
of the committee [handing a document to the chairman], this was the 
resolution which was jDassed by thirty-three food commissioners in 
session here yesterday, without a dissenting vote. They are the 
people who have to deal with foods. 

Mr. Brine. Is there any objection to hearing it read? 

The Chairman (reading the same). "Resolved, That this associa- 
tion recommend to the Congress of the United States that the internal- 
revenue tax on oleomargarine be increased from 2 to 10 cents per 
pound." And Mr. Knight says this was the resolution passed by the 
Pure Food Convention here yesterday, and he presents it here for 
the information of this committee, and I accept it as such informa- 
tion. 

Mr. Brine. What is the pure food commission? 

Mr. Knight. They are the food commissioners appointed by the 
governors of the different States. This is a convention of the com- 
missioners. 

Mr. Brine. They did not meet as a. commission? 

Mr. Knight. They met in convention to consider matters for the 
good of the various States and the enforcement of the food laws, and 
this is a resolution which was passed at their convention. 

Mr. Brine. Was that passed unanimously? 

Answer. Absolutely not a vote against it. 

Mr. Brine. Fifteen of those commissioners this morning were down 



348 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

at the stock yards, and seven or eight of them said they would not 
have voted for that if they had known what they were doing. That 
ought to go into the record. 

The Chairman. This is hearsay evidence. 

Mr. Brine. My part is hearsay, of course. 

Mr. Knight. You are not testifying now. 

Mr. Brine. You were not testifying, were you? 

Mr. Knight. Yes; I was. 

The Chairman. Now, is there anything further, gentlemen? 

(There being no response, the committee adjourned subject to call 
of chairman.) 



Dear Mr. Brine: You will remember that Chairman Mason, of the pure food 
commission, gave me the privilege of putting in evidence a number of opinions in 
regard to the wholesomeness of butterine. Inclosed find opinions referred to. 

No. 1, from G. C. Caldwell, Cornell University. 

No. 2, from Prof. W. O. Atwater, Wesleyan University. 

No. 3, from Prof. Paul Schweitzer, Missouri State University. 

No. 4, from Dr. Adolph Jolles, Vienna. 

No. 5, trom Prof. George F. Barker, University of Pennsylvania. 

No. 6, from Prof. S. W. Johnson, Yale College. 

No. 7, from Prof. W. O. Atwater, Government Agricultural Experiment Station. 

No. 8, from Dr. Wiley, chemist United States Department of Agriculture. 

No. 9, from Dr. Ames, United States Navy. 

Yours, truly, W. E. Miller. 

Mr. George J. Brine, Chicago. 



WHOLESOMENESS OF BUTTERINE. 

Prof. G. C. Caldwell, of Cornell University, says: 

' ' The process for making butterine, vphen properly conducted, is cleanly throiigh- 
out, free from animal tissue or other impurities, and consists of pure fat, made 
up of the fats commonly known as alaine and margarine. It possesses no quali- 
ties whatever that can make it in the least degree unvpholesome. " 

Prof. W. O. Atwater, of Wesleyan University, contributed this to the discussion: 

" Butterine is perfectly wholesome and healthy, and has a high and nutritious 
value. The same entirely favorable opinion I find expressed by the most promi- 
nent European authorities— English, French, and German." 



INDORSEMENTS. 

Prof. Paul Schweitzer, Ph. D., LL. D., professor of chemistry, Missouri State 
University, February 20, 1895: 

"As a result of my examination, made both with the microscope and the deli- 
cate chemical tests applicable to such cases, I pronounce your Silver Churn 
Butterine to be wholly and unequivocally free from any deleterious or in the least 
objectionable substances. Carefully made physiological experiments reveal no 
difference whatever in the palatability and digestibility between Silver Churn But- 
terine and butter." 

Dr. Adolph Jolles, of Vienna, from address given before section 7 of the Inter- 
national Hygienic Congress at Budapest, in September, 1894 — No. 6: 

"As regards nutritive value, pure butterine or oleomargarine is as digestible 
and nutritive as pure butter. 

Prof. George F. Barker, of the University of Pennsylvania: 

"Butterine is, in m^ opinion, quite as valuable as a nutritive agent as butter 
itself. It is perfectly wholesome, and is desirable as an article of food. I can see 
no reason why butterine should not be an entirely satisfactory equivalent for 
ordinary butter, whether considered from the physiological or commercial stand- 
point." 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 349 

Prof. S. W. Johnson, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion and professor of agricultural chemistry at Yale College. Islew Haven: 

" It is a product that is entirelj' attractive and vpholesome as food, and one that 
is for all ordinary and culinary purposes the full equivalent of good butter made 
from cream. I regard the manufacture of oleomargarine as a legitimate and 
beneficent industry. " 

Prof. W. O. Atwater, director of the United States Grovernment Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Washington, D. C: 

" It contains essentially the same ingredients as natural butter from cow^'s milk. 
It is perfectly wholesome and healthy and has a high nutritive value." 



The superiority of butterine or oleoraagarine is championed by the best journals 
and nev(7spapers in the United States. Our special brands are "Crescent" and 
" Silver Churn," manufactured especially for table use. 

Armour Packing Company, 

Kansas City. 



[Chicago Record.] 

The manufacturer of butterine merely uses a new way of producing a well- 
known food product. He does by machinery what the cow does by the laws of 
nature. By analysis certain ingredients are found in butter, and oleomargarine 
is made by obtaining them from some other source and combining them in the 
correct proportions. One of the principal of these is olein, an exceedingly rich 
oil secreted by the udder of the cow. The discoverer of the new process argued 
that if olein was found in the milk it would probably occur elsewhere in the 
animal, and by analysis he learned that the caul-fat, which forms a cushion and 
blanket for the intestines, was rich in the substance. It was a comparatively 
simple process to extract the olein and make it the basis of butterine. 



[The National Provisioner.] 
AN OFFICIAL OPINION — IS OLEOMARGARINE DIGESTIBLE? 

Washington, D. C, July 10. 
This question has been a subject of debate ever since the advent of artificial 
butter, and Dr. Wiley, chemist of the United Stales Department of Agriculture, 
was shown a clipping from a contemporary journal devoted to dairy interests 
in which it was stated that the heat of the body was not sufficient to emulsify 
oleomargarine, and for this reason it was not digestible as butter and was not 
wholesome. "There is nothing in this," he said, "as the heat of the body has 
nothing to do with the digestion of food. As to the unwholesomeness, that the 
fats used in the composition of oleomargarine are in themselves unwholesome 
there is no proof whatever." 



[Chicago Chronicle.] 
PURE OLEOMARGARINE. 

Oleomargarine has been found by Jolles and Winkler to be less infected with 
microbes than ordinary butter. The butter yielded an average of 10,000,000 to 
20,000,000 of microbes per gram and a maximum of 47.000,000, but the average in 
oleomargarine was only 4,000,000 to 6,000,000, and in no case as much as 12,000,000. 
No microbes of disease were discovered. 



[The National Provisioner.] 

In regard to the manufacture of oleomargarine and butterine as a legitimate and 
beneficial industry, Professor Chandler, of Columbia College, New York, says: 



350 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

" Nothing objectionable exists in the original composition of oleomargarine, nor is 
anything objectionable added during the process, and the operations are conducted 
with the utmost cleanliness. The product is palatable and wholesome, and can be 
made of uniform quality the year round, and is in every respect superior to a large 
proportion of butter sold in this city, and can be manufactured at a lower cost. I 
regard it as a most valuable article of food. In this opinion I am supported by the 
best scientific authority in the country." 



[Woonsocket, R. I., Call.] 
DR. HILS ON "FOOD." 

He says oleomargarine is healthy, and tea and coffee are not. 

Dr. Joseph Hils's lecture to the Cercle Nationale Dramatique last night was 
largely attended, every seat in the society's hall being taken. The doctor talked 
for two hours. In the first part of the discourse he entered into an analysis of 
vegetable and fatty foods. The doctor explained the composition of many of the 
most familiar vegetables, such as potatoes, peas, and beans, besides giving inter- 
esting facts about grains and rice. He told of the effect of rice on the Chinese, 
and the effect of fats and vegetables on the human system in general. 

The doctor said that oleomargarine is good. He told his hearers to not be afraid 
to eat it. 



[Kansas City Star.] 
SUPERIOR TO BUTTER. 

Dr. Avies an ardent advocate of the use of butterine. 

Dr. Howard E. Ames, of the United States Navy, who has taken so prominent 
a part in the various discussions during the convention of the American Public 
Health Association, is probably one of the most thoroughly informed men on the 
question of proper and nutritious food in the United States. One of the articles 
of food to which he has paid particular attention is butterine, which he considers 
a far superior article of diet to butter. 

"The reason it is not a more common article of diet,' he explained to a reporter 
for The Star, "is becaitse of a popular prejudice, founded largelj' upon imagina- 
tion and careless statements made by many uninformed persons, and, as a matter 
of fact, there isn't one in 20,000 who can tell the difference between the two. The 
nutritious value is fully equal to that of butter; it is much cheaper, and when 
properly made will remain sweet and fit for consumption much longer. 

"There might be some argument against butterine made in small establish- 
ments, where the material from which it is made is allowed to accumulate for 
several days; but in the large establishments, like those in this city, where the 
material is taken from animals killed the same day, the butterine is more free 
from impurities than butter. There is more fermentation or putrefactive change 
in milk than the other materials, and the best butterine is that made with the least 
milk. 

"The manufacture of butterine in properly constructed factories is much more 
clean, too. than the manufacture of butter, and the factories here, I notice, are 
nearly perfect in that respect. The matter used for coloring is in no way injuri- 
ous, and the high temperature to which the materials are subjected perfectly 
sterilizes th^m. I have seen butterine and butter put up in cans at the same time, 
and when opened ten or twelve months later the butterine was sweet, while the 
butter was rancid and unfit for use. 

"The idea is to educate the people up to using it. I have recommended its use 
for the regular rations in the Army and Navy, and am satisfied that it will prove 
a better article of food than butter. It should be more generally used and not 
looked upon as an inferior article and makeshift for butter when it is really 
superior." 

N. B. — Dr. Ames represented the United States Government at the recent con- 
vention held in Kansas C ity by the American Public Health Association. 



adulteeation of food products. 351 

Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Saturday, November 11, 1899. 

TESTIMONY OF GALLUS THOMANN. 

Gallus Thomann sworn aud examined : 

The Chairman. Please state j^our residence and your occupation. 

Mr. Thomann. My office address is 109 and 111 East Fifteenth 
street in this city. I am the manager of the literary bureau of the 
United States Brewers' Association and am secretary of that bodj^ 

The Chairman. Have you any profession outside of that? 

Mr. Thomann. None. Or, rather, I might say my profession is that 
of a literary man. 

The Chairman. You are not a professional chemist? 

Mr. Thomann. I am not. I have no other occupation than as I 
have stated. I devote my entire time to this work. 

The Chairman. How long have you been secretary of this asso- 
ciation? 

Mr. Thomann. I have been secretary of it about a year and a half, 
but have been manager of the literary bureau for the past eighteen 
years. 

The Chairman. In the investigation now Deing conducted bj^ this 
committee we are operating under a resolution passed by the Senate 
of the United States, which directs us to report to that body on the 
question of food adulterations; first, those adulterations that are 
deleterious to public health, and second, those which are not neces- 
sarily deleterious to the public health, but which amount to a fraud 
uiwn the consumer. In other words, if I should substitute glucose 
for honey it might be noninjurious, but it would be a fraud upon the 
public. 

Mr. Thomann. I understand j'Our position, Mr. Chairman. 

The Chairman. I wish to examine you in a general way, without 
intending in the slightest degree to prj^ into anyone's personal or pri- 
vate business. Neither is there any desire on the part of the com- 
mittee to extract any trade secrets from anyone, nor anything that 
would even look like interfering with iDrivate business. We believe 
that honest manufacturers will assist us in getting rid of what is to 
them unfair competition, and at the same time the honest manufac- 
turer will have the same interest in his business that the people will 
have; that is, that things should be sold for what they are. Have 
you given the subject of food legislation your attention? 

Mr. Thomann. I have written on the subject very considerably 
and have spoken on the subject before a number of legislatures 
before which I have attended to speak for the United States Brewers' 
Association, not, of course, as to the products of all manufacturers. 

I shall confine myself closely to your points of inquiry. 

I will state with reference to the first point you made, namelj', as 
to adulterations which are injurious to health, that the United States 
Brewers' Association (and it is only for them that I shall speak) have 
placed themselves on record, not once, but on a number of occasions, 
as utterly oj)posed to anything of that description and are willing to 
help in the detection and prosecution of persons guilty of adultera- 
tions of food or drink which would tend to injure the health of the 
consumer. 



352 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

That position we have taken recently at the food convention in 
Washington when Dr. Wiley was present. I am sure he will agree 
with me that we took strong grounds in support of that position. In 
fact, our position could not be stronger. And Dr. Wiley would also 
agree with me in saying that our action is absolutely sincere, as is 
evidenced by everything that we have done for a considerable time 
back. 

Our bill is known in the Senate as the Faulkner bill and in the 
House of Representatives as the Brosius bill. In tangible evidence 
of our interest in the movement for pure food we have contributed 
more, I believe, than any other class of manufacturers to the support 
of the Pure-Food Congress. We also took action at a convention 
held in Detroit, Mich., in June following the second Pure-Food Con- 
gress, which action consisted of a resolution approving of the resolu- 
tions of the Pure-Food Congress and approving of the Brosius pure- 
food bill or the Faulkner pure-food bill. 

I believe a mistake has been made in that bill by defining what 
should be or should not be deemed bad food. I was opposed to that 
feature of it, but in spite of that we are supporting the bill because we 
think it is a movement in the right direction. 

What we should depend upon in the event of the enactment of such 
a bill would be the fairness and thorough familiarity of the officers of 
the Agricultural Department with the matters in hand. We would 
depend upon them to establish a proper standard. 

As to adulterations which may be, as you said, considered in the 
nature of perhaps noninjurious adulterations, such as may not affect 
the health of the consumer, but deteriorate the quality of the goods, 
I am at liberty to state that the brewers of the United States are also 
strongly opposed to any such adulterations. The great difficulty, 
however, lies in the fact that no two individuals among themselves 
and no two chemists in the country or in the world will agree among 
themselves as to what would constitute an adulteration in that sense, 
neither official chemists nor other chemists. 

In an argument which I recently submitted to the legislature of the 
State of New York I submitted an extract from a report ot the British 
parliamentary commission which investigated this subject during four 
years. The testimony taken by that commission covered two large 
octavo volumes, or, perhaps more correctly, quarto volumes, of 800 
pages. Very important testimony was taken there, and there was a 
report made to Parliament based on that testimony, which sums up 
the whole subject. I unfortunately have but one copy of the official 
report which is based on those volumes of testimony. 

Dr. Wiley. I may state that I furnished a very large amount of 
matter that went into that investigation, statistical and otherwise. 

Mr. Thomann. That commission examined nearly all the brewers in 
the different parts of the United Kingdom. They examined chemists, 
not only in the trade, but outside of the trade, and took the testimony 
of nearly everyone that was considered worthy of being listened to. 

As to the definition of beer, the report says: 

It can not be admitted that the liquor made from malt, hops, yeast, and water 
only has an exclusive right to the name beer, or that the purchaser who demands 
beer demands an all-malt liquor. Sugar was intermittently permitted to be used 
in beer a century ago: for over fifty years its use has been continuously permitted 
by acts of Parliament, and eighteen years ago complete freedom in the use of all 
wholesome materials was deliberately granted to brewers by Parliament. 

That was upon the suggestion of Mr. Gladstone, whose utterances 
upon that subject I have with me. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 353 

I will now read from the report of Mr. Gladstone's speech in the 
House of Parliament : 

The brewer [said he] will brew from what he pleases and he will have a perfect 
choice of his materials and of his methods. I am of opinion that it is of enormous 
advantage to the community to liberate an industry so large as this with regard 
to the choice of those materials. The taxes upon the fiscal product we must 
retain, but when we remember that £50,000,000 is the value of the article pro- 
duced, I would ask the House whether it is not a great object of policy, whether 
it is not a great step toward a more perfect fulfillment of those principles of free- 
dom of commerce that we have been endeavoring to maintain for the last forty 
years, to liberate, as to choice of materials and as to process of manufacture, an 
industry of so vast a scope as is this particular industry. 

That is from a report of a speech delivered bj^ Mr. Gladstone in 
connection with a report made by an official commission under the 
authority of an act of Parliament some eighteen years ago — in 1880. 

I will continue to read, if the committee will allow me, from the 
report of the parliamentary committee of 1899 on "Beer materials" — 
the committee of tlie English Parliament: 

Under the circumstances [the report goes on] it must be presumed to be public 
knowledge that beer is not always made from malt and hops exclusively, and con- 
sequently we are of opinion that a person who demands beer and is supplied with 
a beer brewed with a proportion of malt substitute is not thereby prejudiced. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, malt substitutes as used in this country are 
not injurious to health. They are either raw grain, as pure as barlej', 
or they are rice, or they are the products of those cereals, sugar among 
other things. 

The point to which I am now coming in this English report appears 
to be the milk in the cocoanut. Under the head of ' ' Dietetic value " 
it says : 

The question as to the relative merits of different brewing materials can not be 
unconditionally settled with the data at present available, but the balance of 
experience and authority inclines to the view that, while an ali-malt brewing from 
a blend of malt made from the best English and foreign barley is still the best for 
some descriptions of beer (pale bitter ale, for example), yet for other descriptions, 
which constitute by far the larger proportion of the beer consumed, the medium 
or lower (lualities of British barley malt [and our barley malt is not any better; 
the average barley maU] — the medium or lower (jualities of British barley malt 
are improved as brewing materials by the addition of a moderate proportion of 
good brewing sugar, and this is especially the case when the barley from which 
the malt is made has been imperfectly ripened or harvested under unfavorable 
conditions. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, that is precisely the condition of the brewer. 
Sometimes the brewer is ridiculed for sajdng that he can actually 
make a lietter product in conjunction with raw grain than with the 
pure malt, yet that is absolutely true. 

The brewer obtains a better beer, a less muddy beer, a clearer beer, 
and a beer of less alcoholic strength, as a rule. The latter point, of 
course, does not cut any figure before your committee. But this is 
actually what the brewer believes, and it is what the British commis- 
sion found to be the case. 

Now, sir, if we had the very best English malt, as the British com- 
mission state there, or the very best foreign malt, or the very best 
American malt, and if we had that malt in sufficient quantity, then 
for certain descriptions of beer an all-malt beer would bp preferable. 
But you can not get it. 

I have requested from the Government officials information on the 
production of barle}' in this country, and they have very kindly fur- 
nished me with a rej^ort showing that a very large quantity of barley 
F p 23 



354 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

is exported, not to be used for malting or beer purposes, but as food. 
That, of course, is at a very much lower price than is paid for the 
barley used for malting purposes, and it is because that barley thus 
exported is simply unfit for malting. 

We know that we can improve our beers hj the addition to the bar- 
ley malt of unmalted cereals. That is the whole secret of the question. 

If you ask me whether glucose is unhealthy, I would say — and I 
have it from a good chemist — that by the modern methods of manu- 
facture the elimination from glucose of every trace of sulphuric acid 
and of every other injurious substance has become perfectly practi- 
cable. Glucose is used in brewing only perhaps to the extent of some 
15 per cent of the total saccharine material used. It is used, as I am 
reliably informed, by candy manufacturers, who do not conceal the 
practice — or did not conceal it when I interrogated them. 

I understand that the medium grade of candy contains from 40 per 
cent to 60 per cent and the lower grades 75 per cent of glucose, and 
the very best candies contain as much as is used by the brewer when 
he does use it. 

We are not going to make a great fight for the use of glucose. Our 
position has been misinterpreted with regard to this, because we have 
opposed measures of this description before the State legislatures upon 
the ground that other manufacturers of food use glucose in much 
greater proportion, three and four times, than we do; and yet we, the 
brewers, are singled out in these bills. Hence these measures have 
the aspect of being intended as in a sense punitive measures, apply- 
ing to that class of manufacturers. 

In fact, Mr. Chairman, going perhaps a little beyond the inquiry of 
the committee, I will say that the New York Sun, which has as part 
owner one of the leading politicians of this State, had an article 
which said that the brewers had contributed to the Democratic fund 
(which was not so) and would be punished by an " adulteration bill." 

Then, of course, our dignity as manufacturers had compelled us to 
act. Had the law enacted a prohibition of glucose in all manufac- 
tures, it would be different. We would say in that case, "Let the 
manufacturers of candy go and fight this matter; we are not going 
to serve as cat's-paws for the candy manufacturers." But here was an 
attempt to single out the brewers for this action. That is why we 
opposed the attempt. 

I do not mean to say that all brewers would be with me in not 
fighting a, bill against the general use of glucose, or if a Federal law 
were passed. But as the matter stands to-day the brewer believes 
that he is entitled to use whatever material he pleases in the manu- 
facture of beer, provided he is absolutely certain — not merely morally 
convinced, but scientifically certain — that the material he puts into 
his beer can under no circumstances injure the health of the com- 
munity. 

If the standard set up by the United States Department of Agri- 
culture, or rather by Dr. Wiley, should be one that excludes glu- 
cose, of course the brewers would live iip to it and would so far as 
possible to them prevent others from violating the law in that respect. 
But we do believe, and I have submitted this report in support of 
our view, that in conjuction with malted barley unmalted cereals 
should be permitted, and that the product thus obtained is as pure 
and good and as much a standard product as one made of malt only. 
In fact, the likelihood is that the beer made of malt only is apt to 
be inferior beer unless the barley happens, as this English report 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 355 

Clearly states, to be the very best of American or the best of foreign 
barley. 

When you consider, Mr. Chairman, that we have upward of 35,000,000 
barrels of beer, and that probably 56,000,000 bushels of barley is all 
that we raise, and that one-third of that l3arley is not maltable, it is 
clear that practically we would have only a malt which would make 
beer of an inferior quality — not of a quality which the brewer could 
now have by calling science to his aid ; not of a quality which he 
would get by using malt in conjunction with raw grain. 

The Chairman. Referring to the use of unmalted cereals to take 
the place of hops and malt, and referring to the use of glucose, one 
question to which I wish to direct your attention is this: Ought there 
not to be some way by which the consumer of that product should 
know to a reasonable certainty how much glucose, for instance, is 
being used in place of barley or malt, how much of unmalted cereals, 
etc.? In other words, ought there not to be some standard of beer? 

Mr. Thomann. Certainlj^; and Dr. Wiley knows that I have advo- 
cated that very thing. 

In view of the almost perplexing variety of opinion on the subject, 
I thought — and I offered an amendment to that effect — that if the 
Agricultural Department, after consulting the men who understood 
the subject, would establish a standard and could make a standard 
that would be satisfactory to all and especially to the public, it should 
do so. But in view of the manifest variety of opinions on the subject, 
as I have said, the establishment of a standard should be preceded, 
in my judgment, by a conference on the part of the j^erson or persons 
whose duty it might be to establish the standard with the persons who 
are to live under it or up to it. 

This, I thought, was a proposition which, in all fairness, could be 
asked by any class of manufacturers. But you can not by any means 
determine, for instance, a beer made of two-thirds malt and one-third 
rice, which is conceded the world over to be sui)erior to malt beer. I 
suppose in that class of cases some American brewers would be glad 
to have it known that they make a rice beer. 

In Germany they have very fancy gilt signs showing that they make 
or sell, as the case may be, rice beer. Some American brewers might 
do the same. Other brewers, knowing the ingrained prejudice of the 
public mind against anything that is not barley malt, might think 
that such a statement might injure the producer. 

Mr. Herbert W. Hart. The public mind is generally right. 

Mr. Thomann. That is generally true, I will admit. But when the 
public mind holds that the beer made of malt in conjunction with rice 
or with corn or with wheat or oat3 unmalted is not as good as one 
made of malt only, and if that same public proves by its consumption 
of the latter beer that it prefers it to the all-malt beer, then its reason- 
ing would not go far with me. 

Mr. Hart. I can account for that. 

Mr. Thomann. I can account for it also, but in a different way, per- 
haps, from that of the gentleman. I shall listen to the gentleman very 
closely and very gladly when he speaks before the committee if he will 
allow me to finish my observations. 

There are in this city brewers who claim that they have made an 
all-malt beer for twenty or thirty years and have never made any- 
thing but an old-fashioned beer. One of them has gone so far as to 
oppose his colleagues at Albany by stating that they are in favor of 
this bill, which I have characterized in the beginning of my remarks. 



356 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

and say that they are in favor of its being enacted. This statement 
made before the legislature was utilized by them as an advertisement. 
They published it in every daily paper that is good for anything as an 
advertising medium in this city. They had j)lacards put up in every 
public place. They have done this for years ; they are old established 
brewers. Those brcM'-ers sell to-day, at the utmost, GO, 000 barrels of 
beer — about as much as they sold twenty years ago. 

The fact is that those brewers who have made the very most of their 
peculiar stand and who have advertised the fact that they have made 
such beer for the past twenty years are altogether outstripped by the 
others. New establishments — new breweries — have been established 
within ten years that have outstripped those others one hundredfold. 
That, it seems to me, would tend to prove that if the public were as 
eager for that style of beer as, according to the views expressed, they 
are supposed to be, the production of those so-called old-fashioned peo- 
ple would exceed the production of three such breweries as they have ; 
but it does not. 

I will give Mr. Hart another example of the fallacy of the view that 
the public mind is always right. Brewers have made attempts, not 
once, but a hundred times — and he will find that to be the fact if he 
goes into any establishment — to produce such a beer; and they have 
also imported it from Munich brewmasters, but the customers would 
not have it. The customers say, "Sell us the old light effervescent 
beer," which, as a rule, is of not-malted materials, the difference 
between the two materials being that barley is really an inferior one 
to the other cereal, if you use rice or wheat, for barley is certainly 
not considered superior to rice. The difference is that one is malted 
and the other not. Dr. Wiley will explain to you why this raw grain 
is used, because a certain quantity of malt can convert a certain quan- 
tity of unmalted matter, and that is all there is of it. So, it is noth- 
ing but prejudice, every effort to single out the brewer for using grain 
that is not malted. 

But if a Federal standard should be established, eliminating all 
these materials, the brewers would be the first to live up to it. The 
sincerity of their position is not to be doubted. They have, as I say, 
supported the Faulkner-Brosius bill. They have contributed to the 
fund to arrange these pure-food congresses, and they have ijlaced them- 
selves by resolution in public conventions in the position of indorsing 
that measure, so that, as I say, their sincerity can not be questioned. 

To sum up, then, I will simply say that as brewers we are opposed 
to adulteration of any description, particularly to that which injures 
the public health, and also to that which would be a fraud upon the 
I)ublic. But we do claim the right, as this British report concedes it 
to the brewer, and as Mr. Gladstone twenty years ago conceded, that 
the brewer should have the right to the choice of his own materials, 
provided they are wholesome and not injurious. 

Tlie Chairman. Upon the branch of the question as to the manu- 
facture of beer that may be deleterious to the public health, what, if 
any, information have you as to the use of any antiseptics or pre- 
servatives in beers? 

jMr. Thomann. My general information is to the effect that in all 
European countries where laws regulate this question the use of cer- 
tain preservatives is permitted; and I think we ought to have a law 
defining clearly (and I went to Albany to advocate such a thing when 
Dr. Carroll was secretary of the board of liealth) that the brewer 
should be allowed to use preservatives, and the board of health should 
determine what they should be. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 357 

As to the question whether brewers in this country use preserva- 
tives, I have frequentlj^ found brewers unwilling: to ship beer for long 
distances because thej^ have been opposed to using preservatives. 

I have a case in point that occurred recently that exemplifies this 
unwillingness. We were asked to ship beer to Paris to be used there 
next spring. The brewers said, "We can not do that; we can not 
guarantee that the beer will then be fit for use, as we do not use 
preservatives. " 

Whether a brewer here and there does use a preservative I am not 
in a position to state. That, as a matter of course, Avould be negative 
evidence. But I do know that there are brewers who object to using 
preservatives — not one brewer, but dozens of brewers — stating that 
they do not use them, and exemplifying the fact, as I have said, by 
their recent declination to send beer to Europe ; they said that beers 
kept under varying temperatures could not be preserved except 
by the addition of some preservative, and that they do not use 
preservatives. 

The Chairman. Is it j'^our information that the pasteurizing process 
has largely' done away with the necessity of using antiseptics or 
preservatives? 

Mr. Thomann. That is precisely the fact. The chairman shows 
that he understands this subject. 

The Chairman. That was the statement made by other witnesses 
who have been before the committee. 

Mr. Thomann, That is precisely the case. I was endeavoring to 
get to that point. 

A beer that is pasteurized is really not a beer, for instance, that 
3'OU would submit to a jury. I mean that a brewer maj^ be averse to 
submitting a pasteurized beer to a jury which is to determine the 
superiority of one beer over another. If you should send to Paris a 
pasteurized beer for comparison as to superiority and quality with a 
beer that comes from the wood, you would lose, because naturally 
the beer does lose something of its finer flavor by the process of pas- 
teurizing. It i« generally believed — and I believe it — that a beer 
drawn freshly from the wood is better than one that has been pas- 
teurized. 

The Chairman. This is the first expression of that character that I 
have heard. Pasteurizing means putting the beer into bottles and 
then boiling the bottles, I believe? 

Mr. Thomann. To a certain temperature; yes. 

The Chairman. To destroy any germ life that is in the beer? 

Mr. Thomann. That is right. 

The Chairman. I understand you to say that while that has taken 
the place of and made unnecessary the use of antiseptics or preserva- 
tives to preserve the beer, yet, as matter of fact, the beer deterio- 
rates somewhat by reason of the pasteurizing? 

Mr. Thomann. No; I would not say that; or perhaps I did not 
express myself clearly enough. 

The Chairman. At any rate, you would not submit it to a jury of 
experts? 

Mr. Thomann. No. 

The Chairman. Because it lacks something? 

Mr. Thomann. Yes; it lacks something that a beer drawn from the 
wood would possess. The browers, as I have said, refused to send 
beer to Paris to be kept there for a certain length of time, because 
they do not use preservatives, and because, in competing with brewers 



358 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

on the spot under such circumstances, they would be at a disadvantage. 
A beer drawn from the wood is considered better than pasteurized 
beer. A certain amount of carbonic acid escapes. It is not a bad or 
a deteriorated beer, but a man would not want to put pasteurized 
beer in competition with beer drawn from the wood. 

The Chairman. Do you know anything about the use of antiseptics 
in imported beers'? 

Mr. Thomann. I am told that the Bavarian beers that are imported 
are preserved by some antiseptics. The Bavarian law forbids the use 
of preservatives in beer to be used at home, but not in beer designed 
for shipment abroad. I believe — my personal opinion is — that the 
beer could not be sold here in such an excellent state of freshness if 
preservatives were not used. 

The Chairman. Have you in your possession or can you send to 
the committee any literarj^ matter relating to this question? This is 
only one of a very large number of subjects coming before the com- 
mittee. We are looking for information as to the importation of food 
products that are shipped into this country from different European 
countries the sale of which is prohibited in the country of manufac- 
ture. For instance, we have been informed that what is known as 
"black-jack," which is the dead bean of the coffee, the sale of which 
is prohibited in Germany, is shipped into this country from Germany 
by the ton, mixed with coffee. What I would like you to give us, if 
you have it, is exact information (not that we doubt your word at all, 
but simply that we may have, if possible, official information) on the 
subject of the use of preservatives in beer exported from European 
countries into the United States. We would like, for example, to 
have, if possible, a copy of the Bavarian law which permits the use 
of preservatives in their export beer and prohibiting that use in beers 
made for their home consumption. 

Mr. Thomann. I doubt whether there is a law expressly permitting 
the use of preservatives, but it is tacitly understood that beer not to be 
consumed in Bavaria may be provided with a preservative in order to 
insure its healthy condition at the place of destination beyond seas. 

The Chairman. As to the rule of necessity which requires preserva- 
tives to be used for beers that are to be shipped to great distances, 
would not that same rule of necessity ^or preservatives apply also to 
ales and porters? 

Mr. Thomann. Yes. 

The Chairman. And to all malt liquors? 

Mr. Thomann. Yes. 

The Chairman. To all liquors that are the subject of fermentation? 

Mr. Thomann. Yes. You have probably heard of an expression 
which I shall ask the pardon of the committee for using, as I merely 
repeat an expression well known to the drinkers of ale. Formerly 
people spoke of "the Bass stink." Upon opening a bottle of ale it 
was found that there came from the bottle a peculiar smell. It was 
the smell of the preservative. Everybody knew that the beer imported 
in bottles was preserved in that way. If you are not in a very great 
hurry 

The Chairman, We are not in so great a hurry as will not admit 
of our doing our work thoroughly. 

Mr. Thomann. Then I shall endeavor to obtain for you an authen- 
tic statement as to whether the Bavarian brewer is permitted to use 
antiseptics or preservatives in beers to be shipped across seas. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 359 

The Chairman. I should like to embody the matter in the report 
that the committtee will submit, if I can obtain it in time. 

My information is that in Bavaria there is a prohibition against the 
use there of these acids that are used as preservatives, but that the 
law is so construed that if the beer is marked for export or is exported 
under the supervision of the government officials, they either do not 
have that rule in force at all for such cases, or, if they do, they do not 
enforce it in practice. So far as this committee is concerned, we do 
not care whether it is a matter of practice or a matter of law. The 
question is as to the fact. 

Mr. Thomann. I shall write immediatelj' for a copy as soon as I 
reach my office, and I have no doubt that in less than four weeks I 
shall have authentic information on the subject. I know that in Ger- 
many the manufacturers are allowed to use salicylic acid. I under- 
stand that the manufacturers of food are allowed to use that acid. 

The Chairman. Salicylic acid is the antiseptic usually employed, 
is it not? 

Mr. Thomann. It is. The brewers do not use it. I have heard not 
one but dozens of brewers say that they would not use preservatives 
in order to have the beer reach its destination in better condition. 
They pasteurize it and ship it in. that state. The statement I made 
was in connection with the suggested shipments for the Paris Exposi- 
tion. 

May I appeal to Dr. Wiley on this matter? 

The Chairman. Certainly. 

Mr. Thomann. Have you not. Dr. Wiley, received letters from 
brewers saying that they could not ship their beers to Paris because 
the}^ did not and would not use preservatives? 

Dr. Wiley, Yes. If allowed, I should like to say that I have been 
appointed to aid in securing the best possible collection of exhibits 
of American food products in connection with the Paris Exposition, 
and I have appealed to the brewers to participate in sending there the 
best practicable exhibits of their products. Almost universally the 
response from the brewers has been that "We are unwilling to send 
our beers to be placed on exhibition for perhaps six months, and then 
to be taken from the shelves and tested bj^ a jury, because we use no 
preservatives; we only pasteurize our beers, which keeps them only 
two or three months at the most; and at the time that the beers might 
be examined by the jury we are unwilling to have them then sub- 
jected to a comparison with beers that have not been subjected to 
changes of temperature and climate." 

I may state that the process of pasteurizing beer is resorted to in 
order to keep the beer long enough for home consumption and at the 
same time not let it coagulate. Albuminous matters render beer 
cloudy. The temperature for pasteurizing is 140° only. You can 
easily hold your hand in water at that temperature. But if deprived 
of some elements, such as the butyric ferments and the lactic fer- 
ments, which are persistent, the beer would be rendered flat and 
unpalatable. Hence pasteurizing is done at a heat only high enough 
to kill the yeast ferments, and not the lactic or butyric ferments. 

The Chairman. In other words, those brewers are unwilling to 
expose their beers to this long test of varying temperatures simply 
because they do not use preservatives? 

Mr. Thomann. That is the reason, and they have refused to send 
their beers. Thej^ did not want foreign judges to saj^ that American 



360 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUOTS. 

brewers used preservatives. On one occasion one of our brewers 
made a test of his pasteurized beer. He sent it across the ocean. It 
was gone three months; and when it came back, it was found, at the 
end of two trips, to be still in good condition. But that did not sat- 
isfy him that it would be good for six months. 

The Chairman. The motion to which it had been subjected did not 
J) rove to be injurious to it, but the change of temperature might be? 

Mr. Thomann. Yes. 

Dr. Wiley. I have received permission from Commissioner-General 
Peck to allow brewers who will exhibit beer in bottles to send samples 
specially for the judges next summer. We hope the difficulty will be 
overcome in that way. 

The Chairman. I do not know, Mr. Thomann, that there is anything 
further which I wish to ask you, but I should like to impress upon 
you the importance, if not inconvenient for you, of furnishing us 
with any information or literary material in your possession or that 
you can procure which shows the importation into this country, 
whether permitted by law or by the custom or practice of people in 
Europe, of preservecl food, even if it be a food material outside of 
your specialty — wines, ales, or porters. The committee desires this 
information because it is clearly, I think, the intention of the com- 
mittee to stop people abroad from unloading into this country the vile 
stuff that will not be allowed to be sold in their own country. 

Mr. Thomann. I shall be glad to give the committee any informa- 
tion that I can obtain regarding the existence either of laws on the 
subject or the existence of customs or practices, as the chairman has 
stated. Anything sanctioned by practice or custom would be of the 
same force as though there M'^ere a law on the statute book relating to 
it and commanding it. 

I will hand to the committee, and request that it may be placed in 
the record in connection with my statement, a letter I have received 
from the director and editor in chief of Le Petil Journal du Brasseur, 
of Brussels, Belgium. 

The Chairman. It will be incorporated in the minutes. 

The letter is as follows : 

Le Petit Journal du Brasseur, 
6 Boulevard Clovis, Bruxelles, N.U., March 18, 1899. 
Callus Thomann, Esq., 

Secretary United States Brewers' Association, 
109 and 111 East Fifteenth street, Neiv York. 

Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your favor of the 6th instant. 

In Belgium any legitimate materials may be used. Brewers are 
great users of wheat, rice, and maize, as well as barley malt, and in 
some districts oats and rye form (and have formed from time imme- 
morial) part of the grist. 

Sugars and glucoses are in general use, and the excise laws regard- 
ing these materials have just been altered so as to facilitate their prep- 
aration and use. 

A law voted a few years ago absolutely prohibits the use of all anti- 
septics, the only "tolerance," as the law terms it, being in favor of 
sulphurous acid and its compounds. Beer may contain upon analysis 
14 milligrams to the liter of SO2 legally supposed not to be added to 
the beer, but to be derived from the disinfection of the casks. As a 
matter of fact, brewers use sulphites largely both in the mash tun and 
in the carriage casks. Excessive quantities have to be used in the 



ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 361 

tun before there is any danger of reaching the 14 milligrams in the 
beer as sold, as, of course, oxidation and decomposition of the sulphite 
goes on through all the brewing and fermenting process. Greater 
care has to be exercised when sulphites are added to the beer in cask, 
as, although oxidation does even then go on rapidly, there Avould 
be a danger in sending out beer freshl}^ overdosed with sulphurous 
acid. With a little care the brewer can, however, and undoubtedly 
does, keep well within the limit. 

Coal-tar saccharin is forbidden. It was much used up to about three 
years ago, when its use in beer was declared by the Conseil Superieur 
d'Hygiene to be inadmissible. Harmless bitters and tannin may be used 
as hop substitutes, and so may harmless aromatic herbs or seeds, but 
the law is fully armed to deal Avith any brewer who should add any 
deleterious stuff to his beer; in fact, there is no country in the world 
where the food and drug acts have been brought up to the point they 
have in this country. You could get an idea of the endless legislation 
or rather "arretes" based on legislation by consulting Camille Wili- 
quet's book, costing three or four francs, and which, if of interest to 
you, I will send on to you. 

In France the law seems to be in an uncertain state as regards anti- 
septics. But the courts have lately condemned brewers who use sac- 
charin and salicylic acid. Sulphites seem to be tolerated, and I believe 
that to some extent fluorides and creosotes are used. A little of these 
may also be used in Belgium, as they are difficult to find (especially 
creosotes), but if detected the brewer would undoubtedly be punished. 

In France, as in Belgium, all legitimate materials may be used, and 
all cereals are used, the prei3onderance, as elsewhere, being barley 
malt. The law with regard to hop substitutes is about as in Belgium. 
Tannin is much used, but probably few bittering materials and some 
aromates. These even include such things as ginger, cloves, pepper, 
and so on, but I think only inferior sorts of beer are ever brewed 
with an}^ proportion of them. 

The use of tannin (tannic acid) is easily explained. All brewers, 
of course, use hops, as in every other country, but people here will not 
have a very bitter beer. The quantity of hoj)S used varies from 2 to 
3 per cent on the weight of the malt, but even the smaller quantity is 
sufficient in some cases to make the beer too bitter, as the beers are 
very weak, varying from 1,025 to 1,045 for running beers. Tannic 
acid is then used, in the hope that it will do for beer what an excess of 
hops would do without the disadvantage of the bitterness. 

I believe, as a matter of fact, that there is only one country in the 
world where barley malt, water, and hops must, by law, be the only 
ingredients. That is in Bavaria, and the regulation has never even 
been able to be applied to any other State of Germany. The stories 
as to the original reason for voting this legislation and for maintain- 
ing it are very varied, and I think there is a good deal of reason for 
supposing that it is to keep up a monopoly that brewers profess to be 
so enam'ored of it. 

I shall always be delighted if at any time I can be of use to j^ou, and 
am, dear sir. 

Yours, very faithfully, 

G. N. Johnson, 
Editor Petit Journal du Brasseur. 



362 ADULTERATION OF lOOD PRODUCTS. 

TESTIMONY OF HERBERT W. HART. 

Herbert W. Hart, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and occupation. 

Mr. Hart. I reside in New Jersey; my New York address is 52 
Broadway. For over thirty years I have studied dietetics and pre- 
ventive therapeutics. I am a scientific food specialist. 

The Chairman. Will you be good enough to state to the committee 
anything within your knowledge or the range of your studies regard- 
ing the subjects which it is investigating — concerning adulterations 
of food products? 

Mr. Hart. I may state on this subject of brewing and adulteration 
of beers that I do not altogether agree with the views of the gentleman 
who last addressed the committee (Mr. Thomann) as to the beneficial 
property of adulterations. I am opposed to all adulterations for the 
reason that no two foods should be mixed up together. I maintain 
that there should be no addition of one preparation containing differ- 
ent constituents to another product containing different constituents, 
for the reason that the human body requires all the properties that 
nature intended for the blood and that perfectly constituted blood 
can not possibly be obtained by imperfect constituents. 

The Chairman. You would not say that the mixing of pure malt 
and hops with water was an adulteration? 

Mr. Hart. Malted barley contains properties that are analogous to 
wheat in its entirety. And the only reason why beer has become so 
universally used and universally required, especially by workingmen, 
is that they have been robbed, by something worse than adulteration, 
of the blood-forming properties that are in the wheat, but that are not 
in the bread. This arises from the fact that there is a most repre- 
hensible violation of nature's laws by the miller for the purpose of 
doing what the brewers, as has been stated here, do not want to do, 
for the purpose of preserving and enabling them to send a product to 
any part of the world that will keep any number of years and come 
back as good as ever. You could sink a shipload of flour to the bot- 
tom of the sea and get it back as good after twenty years as when it 
was first milled. This is because as soon as the shipload of flour went 
to the bottom a mere film of water would make a paste which would 
protect the flour, and extremely little of it would be affected. 

If we are to eat what is good, we must take the good in its entirety 
and not take the good things out of it merely to enable it to " keep." 

The system in vogue is now carried to such an extent in all prod- 
ucts that unless some great reform is brought about and the public 
mind is turned to the subject so that a properly constituted whole- 
wheat bread is provided for the people, the degeneration of the race 
will go on and on until human beings will become idiots. The only 
chance of preventing this possibility is to be found in the number of 
little things that are introduced as remedies. For instance, beer is 
one. If you feed any person on wheat hveM such as is generally 
used, that person will crave a glass of beer to supply the coloring 
matter and the phosphates that he has been deprived of in the bread. 

That is the sole reason why beer is a necessity and a greater neces- 
sity than whisky or any other liquor. There is no liquor sold so 
harmle8S.as malted beer — home-brewed beer. I remember my father 
brewing his own beer, and I remember drinking the wort as it came 
out of the tap. That would be of the highest purity, the essence 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 363 

extracted, from the malt. But that goes through a process of churn- 
ing and cooling down and fermenting. Then they draw the ferment off. 

The yeast that is drawn from it — the yeast that the wort throws off — 
is an essential of life itself. It has been proved that a person suffer- 
ing from consumption may derive immense benefit from eating the 
yeast plant. That yeast plant may be used for the purpose of raising- 
bread. If you raise wheat-flour bread on yeast, you give a certain 
amount of body and strength to that bread. 

It has been iDroved that aerated bread made of flour by an unfer- 
mented process is so innutritions and so nonsatisfactory to the work- 
ing classes that to a man they gave it up in England. In that country 
aerated bread became a great failure. I have said, in this city, that I 
would rather have the commonest flour made with ferment in the 
dirtiest slum of New York than the best aerated bread made by the 
best machine in the world, for the reason that I could live; that that 
would help to sustain uiy life. 

This flour question has much to do with the beer question, because 
if the masses of the people, especially in darker New York — in the 
slums — can be fed on whole-wheat food, the system would become so 
robust, so strong, and so satisfied that there would be no desire for 
beer at all. Then there would be the drinking of wine and such lux- 
uries, of course, for the rich ; but the wholesale use of beer as at present 
would be needless. 

Mr, Thomann. You referred a moment ago, Professor Hart, to the 
time when home brewing — domestic brewing — was in vogue in Eng- 
land. 

Mr. Hart. Yes. 

Mr. Thomann. Do you recollect that in those days, when your father 
did his own brewing, he ceased it when the Government taxed his 
product^ — do you recollect that he used other products than barley? 

Mr. Hart. No. 

Mr. Thomann. And you never heard of it? 

Mr. Hart. No. 

Mr. Thomann. Then I will state for your benefit, and the benefit, 
perhaps, of the committee, that other j)roducts were used. 

Mr. Hart. That is a part of the process that has come into vogue 
since. 

Mr. Thomann. No; I beg jouv pardon. Long before your father 
and before his grandfather lived, laws were passed in different parts 
of the European Continent peremptorily forbidding the use of barley 
for beer, because its production was not sufficient to supply the food 
demand. In some instances the law prescribed what cereal might be 
used to the exclusion of barley, because the production of that cereal 
was not sufficient at a certain time to supply the food demand. And 
that was done not only on the Continent of Europe, but I can quote 
from the authorities to show that in the English colonies it was also 
done. 

So that the idea that barley was the standard and that nothing else 
could be used in the production of beer is entirely fallacious. 

Mr. Hart. I did not know that. 

Mr. Thomann. In those days the legislators, in a patriarchal way, 
looked into everything. The lawmakers said what could and what 
could not be used. It was on the same principle that oats at Augs- 
burg, in Bavaria, could not be used. 

Mr. Hart. There is no doubt that when tliere was a deficiencj^ of 
barley a law might have been passed to forbid its use, just as at one 



364 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

time in the early part of this century the British Parliament prohib- 
ited the use of wheat flour, and within three months afterwards a law 
was passed prohibiting all bolted flours from being used. Eighty 
thousand troops were encamped on Salisbury Plains, waiting to move, 
and for a fortnight the troops were compelled to eat nothing but the 
whole-wheat bread. At first they protested against it and said they 
could not eat it, but in a few days they benefited so much by it that 
a committee was instituted to inquire into the wonderful improvement 
in the sanitary condition of the men. But all the toothless, scorbutic, 
consumptive people clamored for the repeal of the law, and they 
went back to the white bread. The food that I advocate would do 
much to establish correct conditions of life and bring about many 
needed reforms. It would, for one thing, put an end to the jingoism 
that prevails, for jingoism comes from lack of brains, and that in turn 
is the result of lack of brain-forming food. 

The Chairman. How long have you made this subject of food a 
study? 

Mr. Hart. Since the year 1855. 

The Chairman. Are you a chemist? 

Mr. Hart. I am not a chemist, but I have employed chemists to 
analyze foods for me. 

I can state an .important fact, not known to the medical men of this 
countrj^; indeed, very few men are acquainted with the fact that the 
bran of wheat that has been sold in Minneapolis, to m}^ knowledge, 
for fuel, contains the most choice brain-forming matter that human 
beings can require. Brainless people were selling that material at 
the rate of 12.50 a ton, while it was estimated that the druggists in the 
same city were selling at the rate of $5,000 a ton a remedy to take the 
place in the human system of the material which, as I say, was sold 
as practically worthless — simply for fuel. 

This is a subject of the most extreme importance to all, for there 
depends on the use of this food for the brain not only the important 
question as to how long we shall live and enjoy life, but the question 
of even more importance to the human race, as to the offspring that 
we shall leave behind. 

Regarding the matter of beer, I saw the other day a bottle marked 
" Absolutely malt and hops." Now, if all brewers were to be com- 
pelled to jjut on the bottles just what those bottles contain, it would 
bring forth a better state of things, and be in every respect more sat- 
isfactory to the public. If when people bottled anj^thing for sale 
they were compelled by law to state what the bottle contained, and 
what the contents were composed of, it would be infinitely better for 
the community. The English people compelled their traders, in put- 
ting up mixtures in which mustard figured, to label them, not " Mus- 
tard," but " Mustard condiments." These misrepresentations on the 
labels of bottles are resorted to for the purpose of making more money 
out of the articles thus sold. 

Mr. Thomann. Will the gentleman permit me to quote his own 
words for a moment, and correct me if I misstate them? But before 
doing so I should like to make one observation. Shortly after the 
Franco- Prussian war an eminent chemist, whose name has been men- 
tioned here frequently, Pasteur, wrote a book on Fermentation. In 
his preface to that work he pointed out that one of the most influen- 
tial causes of the defeat of the French nation in that war was, in his 
opinion, the physical superiority of the Germans. He saw in the 
general use of malt liquors bj^ the Germans a reason for their physical 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 365 

superiority, and he wrote that book, as he stated in his preface, as a 
contribution to this question, being anxious that his own countrymen 
should abstain from the intoxicants to whicli they were addicted, and 
use those which the Germans had used and were using. 

Mr. Thomann. Does the gentleman mean to say that the general use 
of wheat flour as sold to-day tends to degenerate our people? 

Mr. Hart. I do. 

Mr. Thomann. And you said, I think, that the general use of this 
kind of bread brings about, naturally, the universal use of malt 
liquors or beer, because beer supplies the nutritive quality which is 
lacking in this bread. 

Mr. Hart. Yes. 

Mr. Thomann. Then you have admitted practically that the brewers 
of the United States have to be thanked for preventing the degeneracy 
of the American people? 

Mr. Hart. I agree with you. 

Mr. Thomann. Well, I assert that the gentleman's premise is defect- 
ive in one very essential particular, namely, the American people are 
not at all degenerating. Anthropometric measurements sho^ that our 
men and women are growing taller, larger, and handsomer; and if 
that is the case, then, according to the gentleman's own reasoning, the 
general use of beer has accomplished this excellent result. 

Mr. Hart. After the Franco-Prussian war I wrote some articles on 
the subject of tlie food of the respective armies engaged in that con- 
flict. I stated that the brown bread of Germany was the salvation of 
Germany and the Germans and that Bismarck and the Emperor Wil- 
helm partook of that brown bread on the field of battle. German 
women went through the armies with sandwiches made of brown 
bread, which they offered to the men and which the Germans ate, but 
which the French declined, saying: "We do not eat the bread of the 
barbarians." Now, "the bi^eadof the barbarians" made the "barba- 
rians" the victors over the French. It has been frequently and 
strongly asserted by the best authorities in England that the brown 
bread of Germany fought the battles of Germany, because it gave to 
the Germans the stamina to fight which tlie Frenchmen did not have. 

With reference to the question of malt and hops, they would make 
pure beer, but glucose goes to make adipose tissue. Now, adipose 
tissue is a curse, because it gives a man too much weight and handi- 
caps his brain. He may have a good brain, but may know nothing 
of its best use b}' reason of the presence of this disorganizing factor. 

The Chairman. You would prevent use of glucose, then, in beer? 

Mr. Hart. Certainly. It is said that they use it for clearness — to 
make the beer clear. But we do not want it clear. If you go to a 
chemist and ask for tincture of iron and tell him that it must be clear, 
he will tell you that if he is to give it to you "clear" it will not be 
tincture of iron. Sir George Simpson was knighted by Queen Victoria 
for extracting this decoction of iron and administering it to her for the 
first time. She derived great benefit from this iron, because it acts 
beneficially on the system and gives to tlie blood an element that it 
requires. People want an iron tonic frequently. But they do not 
appear to understand that the projoer kind of bread has iron tonic in 
it in its natural and projjer form, yet it is rejected. How would you 
like a coffee that would be ' ' clear " — that would have no color in it, 
that you could look through and see through all the way to the l3<5ttom 
of the cup? Would you take the leaf of the tea and remove the fiber 
from it? The fiber is essential. 



366 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

There is a matter which relates not to the manufacture of beer but 
to its use, that I should like to mention. It is this: A very damaging 
effect is produced by the drinking constantly of beer that is ice cold. 
If in the middle of summer you have to ice beer in order to cool it, 
there is no reason why it should be always iced. The effects on the 
stomach are as if you should eat a piece of ice without needing it. 
Why should not beer be made and served with some regard to the 
requirements of the stomach'? 

However, the brewers know no more of dietetics than the doctors. 
This question of food reform is the most important reform and to be 
considered before all others. While the committee is investigating 
pure food, they could not do a greater service than to examine into 
the injurious effects of white flour upon the people, and upon the 
children especially. If you walk through the streets and observe the 
children going to school, you will observe crooked spines and con- 
tracted chests and narrow necks and (too often) idiotic looks, all, in 
my belief, for want of proper food. 

So far as beer is concerned, I am quite sure that anything more than 
malt and liops is unnecessary ; and the only reason why rice and other 
things are put into beer is merely for adulteration. The brewers can 
get the malt if they want it, but as long as the brewers can purchase 
something at half the cost of something else, and can make up some- 
thing that they can sell for beer, which has no more malt and hops 
in it than chalk contains malt and hops, they will make and sell it. 

The beer made and drank in New York is not of the kind that made 
the English people or the early Americans; for what you all are de- 
pends upon what you were — that is to say, what your ancestors were. 
Then as to bottling: If beer is bottled, it is onl}^ for convenience, and 
the label should state what it is. 

I do not approve of the sj^stem of importing beers. I would not 
import a bottle of English beer or any other product from England 
at all, although I am an Englishman by birth. Every land should 
produce its own and live on its own. I do not believe even in the 
eating of bananas here. Let them be eaten by those who produce 
them, where they are produced, and where they are intended to be 
eaten. Every country produces its own food and is suited to its own 
food. 

The Chaikman. You do not mean to say that we derive no benefit 
from imported fruit? 

Mr. Hart. What fruit is grown in the United States is quite good 
enough, and you are better by eating what is grown here. 

The Chairman. Do you mean in our own countrj^? 

Mr. Hart. Every country has its own. 

The Chairman. Suppose our country gets larger? 

Mr. Hart. It will grow sufficient for everybody. 

I should like to add a few words with reference to the nutrition in 
bread. I made an experiment to prove beyond all doubt the value of 
the nutritious properties in the bran. I got an anal3^st to make an 
experiment which I consider one of the most important ever made. 
It is this: He took the bran from the bread that was going to be 
eaten, put it under a microscope, and found that it presented the 
appearance of mountains of amber, as if filled with nutritious foods. 
He took some bran from the excrement after it had passed through 
the stomach, washed it, mounted it, and placed it under a microscope, 
and it revealed honeycombed cells, as if you were looking down on 
the earth cut up with canals — running in all directions, sharp edged. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 367 

and presenting the appearance of square cells. This showed that the 
gastric juice extracts this phosphatic property for the blood. So that 
if the bran is excluded it is done at the expense of the man's men- 
tality. 

I have been known as a worker and writer on this question for forty 
years; and in all those forty years I have never broken down or been 
ill or even been known to tire, but have been ready to knock a bull 
down with the fist. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Monday, Novemher 13, 1899. 

TESTIMONY OF MAX SCHWARZ. 

Max Schwarz, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and occupation. 

Mr. Schwarz. I am 36 years of age; my residence is In New York 
City; my occupation is consulting brewer and director of the United 
States Brewers' Academy. 

The Chairman. Have you had any special course of training for 
this particular work in which you are engaged? 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes. 

The Chairman. State briefly what and where it was. 

Mr. Schwarz. It was in Germany, at various places; at Erlangen, 
at Breslau, and at the Polytechnic School of Dresden. 

The Chairman. What are your duties as director of this Brewers' 
Academy? 

Mr. Schwarz. The teaching of others. 

The Chairman. In what business? 

Mr. Schwarz. In brewing. This includes not only the theory and 
science of brewing, but also the practice of brewing. It includes lec- 
tures on brewing and experiments in brewing, which are conducted 
at the academy. 

The Chairman. Does your work put you in possession of the gen- 
eral practice of brewers in this State and country. 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes. As consulting brewer I am in constant com- 
munication with many 'heads of breweries and their foremen, and I 
believe that I am fully informed as to all methods of brewing prac- 
ticed in this country as well as abroad. 

The Chairman. Have you personally inspected brewing in other 
countries? 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes; a number of times, during the period of the 
last fifteen years. 

The Chairman. One of the interesting subjects before this com- 
mittee and one as to which we are anxious to get all the facts is the 
question of the use of preservatives in the manufacture of malt liq- 
uors. I would like to have you state to the committee whether or not 
you know of any preservatives that are being used in the manufac- 
ture of beer, ale, or porter in this country? 

Mr. Schwarz. To my knowledge they use salicylic acid and the 
compounds of sulphurous acid in moderate quantities for shipping 
and bottled beers, and I consider their use as being one of necessity, 
considering that beer is an organic compound very liable to decay. 



368 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

If proper means are not taken to stop the growth of those organisms 
which cause decay beer will spoil; it will become sour and therefore 
unsalable. For these reasons I iDelieve that a moderate amount of 
preservative should be employed, and when conditions require it I 
recommend the use of those preservatives. 

The Chairman. Do you recommend the use of preservatives for 
beer in the wood? 

Mr. ScHWARZ. I have stated that preservatives should be used for 
beer which is shipped and bottled. Thereby I mean beer which is 
exposed to frequent changes of temperature, and it is immaterial 
whether this takes place in a wood vessel or any other vessel. I may 
add that I am also in favor of adding a little preservative to those 
beers which are exposed to a somewhat higher temperature of about 
a hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit in bottles, a process com- 
monly known as steaming or pasteurizing the beer. It is not an 
uncommon occurrence that such beer also — that is, beer which has 
been steamed — may become sour on account of the presence of germs 
of bacteria. In order to stop the development of these organisms it 
is desirable to make use of a moderate amount of the preservatives 
named above, which will protect the beer from becoming sour and 
therefore keep it in sound condition. 

The Chairman. Is it your experience and information that such 
preservatives are added in the ordinary manufacture of beers, such as 
is put in barrels and sold here to the consumers — in other Avords, bar- 
reled beer? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. Not for the beer consumed in the city and vicinity 
where the beer has been brewed, because there is no use of preserving 
any beer which is consumed shortly after it has been removed from 
the brewery. 

The Chairman. The pasteurizing process will preserve the beer for 
how long, in your opinion, if the beer is in all other respects made in 
a clean, natural, and healthy way — assuming the pasteurizing process 
to be effected at a temperature such as is usual in New York? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. Pasteurized beer should keep for an almost unlim- 
ited time provided there are no bacteria or no germs of those organ- 
isms present; but as beer is exj^osed to air dui-ing the time it is being 
filled into bottles, as it is impossible to employ sterilized bottles, as 
the filling imx^lements, hose, and machinerj' are always more or less 
exposed to air, it is a matter of fact that bottled beer will contain 
more or less germs of bacteria, Avhich may or. may not be destroyed 
by the steaming or pasteurizing process. It is therefore a matter of 
chance whether the pasteurized beer will keep or not. If there are 
no bacteria or germs present, or little of them, contained in the beer, 
the durability of the beer would be good. But if by accident or for 
any other reason beer contains numerous bacteria, the beer will 
undergo a fermentation despite the fact that it has been subjected to 
the pasteurizing process. In such cases it is a good precaution to add 
a little preservative to the beer. 

The Chairman. You mentioned salicylic acid as a preservative. 
How is that made? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. It is made from coal tar. 

The Chairman. Is it regarded as a healthy preservative — as good 
for the human stomach? 

Mr. SCHW^ARZ. Yes; it is used in large quantities as a medicine in 
cases of rheumatism, etc. 

The Chairman. What portion would you recommend or do you 
recommend for preserving bottled beer? 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. ' 369 

Mr. SCHWARZ. One-half ounce for every barrel of beer. 

The Chairman. How manj^ gallons are there in a barrel of beer? 

Mr. Schwarz. Thirty-one gallons. This is a ratio of less than 1 
part of salicylic acid for every 10,000 parts of beer. 

The Chairman. One one-hundredth of 1 per cent? 

Mr. ScHW^ARZ. Yes. 

The Chairman. What was the other acid you mentioned? 

Mr. Schwarz. Sulphurous acid. 

The Chairman. How is that produced? 

Mr. Schwarz. It is produced by burning sulphur. The sulphur 
takes up oxygen, and the resulting compound is sulphurous acid. 
This, combined with other chemicals in various forms, jdelds such sub- 
stances as sulphite of sodium, sulphite of potassium, sulphite of lime, 
and bisulphite of lime, which also have preserving effects. 

The Chairman. That would be considered rather an unhealthy or 
deleterious substance for the human stomach, would it not? 

Mr. Schwarz. Not in such small quantities as are present in the 
beer. It may be of interest to know that almost all English ales con- 
tain these sulphites, and considerably more of them than the American 
beers or ales. The brewers not only use these sulphites to preserve 
their beer 

The Chairman. You are speaking of England now? 

Mr. Schwarz. The brewers in England, yes — but they also employ 
large quantities of bisulphite of lime and similar substances as a 
mixture to the water which is employed to prepare the liquor. They 
add, also, quantities of these sulphites to the mixture of water and 
salt and other materials for the purpose of keeping the liquors sound, 
as some say, or to bleach the color of the liquor, as others maintain. 
I am of opinion that they are all intended to preserve the liquor, 
beginning with the moment when the same is put into vessels which 
are exposed to the free access of air and where there exists the possi- 
bility that the liquor maj^ become spoiled on account of secondary 
fermentation, which, however, is retarded or entirely stopped by the 
employment of these sulphites. 

The Chairman. Dr. VYiley, the chief Government chemist, stated 
here on Saturday, as also did Mr. Thomann, who is connected with the 
National Brewers' Association, that our American brewers had been 
solicited to send samples of their beer to the Paris Exposition next 
summer, but that the brewers had declined to make the exhibit 
because they did not wish beer which had been bottled and exposed 
to such changes of temperature to be submitted to the jury of awards 
after the beer had been in Paris for some months. It appears that 
the brewers stated to Dr. Wiley and Mr. Thomann that they could not 
put their beer there and keep it there without the use of preserva- 
tives, and that they would not and did not use preservatives. Now, 
I understand you to say that it is the custom to use these preservatives. 

Mr. Schwarz. I did say that these substances are employed, and I 
do recommend them, but I could not say whether it is the custom or 
not. 

The Chairman. Yon would recommend, would you, the use of the 
preservatives that you have mentioned, salicylic acid and sulphurous 
acid in small quantities — quantities of, say one one-hundredth of 1 per 
cent? You would not consider that much at all deleterious to the 
public health or the health of the person who should drink such beer? 

Mr. Schwarz. Not at all. 

The Chairman. Are you a physician? 
F P 24 



370 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. SCHWARZ. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You are a chemist? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. A chemist; yes. 

The Chairman. What is your definition of beer? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. I am in favor of adopting the English definition of 
beer, whicli reads about in these words: "A saccliarine infusion to 
which some sort of bitter has been added." Of course the word " fer- 
mented " should be inserted. It is often quoted merely " a saccha- 
rine infusion." It is not onlj" a saccharine infusion, but practically 
it should be "a fermented saccharine infusion." 

The Chairman. The general understanding of beer has been, has 
it not, that it should be malt, hops, and water? 

Mr. Schwarz. I do not say it is so. 

The Chairman. Your idea would be, then, that there may be used in 
the manufacture things other than malt or hops that are not unhealthy? 

Mr. Schwarz. I should be in favor of using malt adjuncts. These 
are substances which may not be properly called substitutes for malt, 
because some of them do not contain substances that are contained in 
the malt, and still their use is advisable, in fact preferable to that of 
malt. 

The Chairman. You would not exclude malt entirely? 

Mr. Schwarz. No. I should like to continue my answer, if you 
please. 

The Chairman. Certainly. 

Mr. Schwarz. For example, rice or corn meal, for instance, eon- 
tains a large amount of starch, which is a very suitable brewing 
material, but it does not contain a large amount of nitrogenous matter, 
which, however, is found in large quantities in the malt. 

An excessive amount of nitrogenous matter is objectionable, because 
the beers produced from such material will show difficulties in the 
verification and they will as a rule possess poor keeping qualities. 
Now, in order to improve these conditions, rice or corn meal are sub- 
stituted for a portion of malt, and thereby a more uniform mixture is 
obtained, which will be preferable to all malt on account of the 
absence of too excessive an amount of nitrogenous matter. 

As it is impossible to obtain a fermentable liquor from rice, corn, or 
any of these unmalted cereals without subjecting them first to a pro- 
cess known as the mashing process, whereby the starch is changed 
into sugar, and as for this mashing process and the change or con- 
version mentioned large quantities of malt are necessary, it is evi- 
dent that no beer can be brewed without the employment of malt; 
and as the American malts do not contain a very large amount of 
nitrogenous substances in excess of that which is desirable, we need 
not blend these malts with too much unmalted grain, and as a conse- 
quence the amount of substitutes or adjuncts used in the United 
States of America is rather small. I would say that it does not exceed 
20 or 25 per cent of the amount of malt employed. 

The Chairman. Then, in your opinion, the unmalted cereals used 
as a substitute for malt will not exceed 25 per cent of the amount of 
malt used? 

Mr. Schwarz. That is correct, and includes also, in my opinion, 
the amount of sugars and sirups employed. 

The Chairman. The sugars and sirups employed are what are 
known as corn sugars, corn sirups, glucose? 

Mr. Schwarz. There are also cane-sugar sirups and refined sirup; 
occasionally some honey also. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 37 1 

The Chairman. What, if any, substitute is used in this country in 
brewing, within your knowledge and experience, in the place of hops? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. None at all. 

The Chairman. You know of nothing that is used as a substitute 
for hops'? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. I should saj', in connection with this, that when 
hops are very cheap extracts are prepared from them, and these 
extracts are stored. Now, as they contain nothing but the constitu- 
ents of hops, we are not justified in considering them to be substitutes 
for hops. They are hops, and consequently the employment of hop 
extracts is perfectly legitimate. 

Another substance classified as a hop substitute is the sugar lupu- 
line. This is the meal contained in the hop cone. It is an essential 
part of hops and no substitute at all. 

The Chairman. How is it prepared? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. The hop cones are torn open and b}^ passing the 
leaves and all other constituents over sieves the meal is collected 
below the seed and then put up in cans and other suitable receptacles. 

The Chairman. Now, I understand that the only substitute you 
know of being used for hojis is the extract of hop and lupuline, which 
is also an extract of hop? 

Mr. Schw ARZ. Yes. 

The Chairman. Only extracted in another way — it is the meal on 
the inside of the cone. 

Mr. SCHWARZ. Yes, but I stated that I should not call them substi- 
tutes. 

The Chairman, I understand. That is a question of construction. 
The only substitute that you know of, then — I call it a substitute, not 
in any technical sense nor in the sense of wishing to change your defi- 
nition — that is used for malt is the vinmalted rice, corn, or any other 
cereal that may be used. 

Mr. SCHWARZ. Yes; wheat or any other, and the sugars. 

The Chairman. The sugars you consider a substitute for the cereal 
and as not having any of the qualities of the hops? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. No. In the beer it does not take any of the place 
of the hop. 

The Chairman. Now, as to coloring matter. Do you know of any 
coloring matter that is used? 

Mr. ScHWARZ. Very little is used outside of the colored malt. 
Sometimes burnt sugar is used, but that is more for pale beers. 
Very little of this burnt sugar is used for coloring beer. 

The Chairman. Dou you know of any other ingredient that you 
have not mentioned that goes into the manufacture of beer — any that 
comes within your knowledge and experience? 

Mr. ScHWARZ. lean not mention anything else except j^erhaps isin- 
glass, which, however, is not entering into combination with beer; it 
is simply a matter of mechanical filtration which is brought about by 
the use of isinglass. Nothing of it is dissolved in the beer, and con- 
sequently its employment does not change the character of the beer 
in any wsiy. 

The Chairman. What is its object — to settle or clarify the beer? 

Mr. ScHWARZ. To clarify the beer. 

The Chairman. And it settles to the bottom? 

Mr. Schw ARZ. Yes, and is removed with the other suspended mat- 
ter which is collected at the bottom of the barrel. 



372 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. When you speak of isinglass, you mean the min- 
eral isinglass? 

Mr. Schwarz. No; not the mineral isinglass, but fish bladders. 

The Chairman. That is animal matter? 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes. 

The Chairman. That does not, you think, dissolve or in any way 
become a part of the beer? 

Mr. Schwarz. Not at all. 

The Chairman. Let me direct your attention for a moment to beers, 
ales, and porters manufactured outside of this country. What is 
your information as to the use of preservatives or antiseptics in that 
beer — whether used more or less in this country — I mean of that beer 
that is shipped into this country? I am not inquiring as to the beer 
made, for instance, in England or other countries and sold there; I 
refer to what we call imported ales, porters, and beers, and I ask you 
wh3thei- they have more, in your opinion, or less of these preserva- 
tives? 

Mr. Schwarz. From actual test I found that the English ale con- 
tained usually more of the sulphites than the American ales contained, 
and that the amount of salicylic acid contained in lager beer brought 
to this country was about the same as the quantity used in this 
country. 

The Chairman. Taking Bavaria as an example, is not the use of 
preservatives prohibited there — that is, in beers made for the home 
consumption of those people? 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes. 

The Chairman. Then, as I understand, the Bavarian beer that is 
manufactured there — for consumption there — is made without the use 
of preservatives of any kind? 

Mr. Schwarz. That is so; but it should be mentioned at the same 
time that there is no country on earth where there is more complaint 
about the quality of the beer, or what might be called "kicking" 
about it, than there is in Bavaria. 

In my deposition of to-day I have called attention to the fact that 
it is impossible to exclude germs of bacteria and, we may say, other 
fungi. This is also impossible in Bavaria; and as the germs just 
mentioned exist there the same as in any other part of the world, they 
will get hold of the beer and multiply therein, causing a change of 
flavor and taste which can not be stopped, because the brewers are 
deprived by law of any means to arrest the development of these 
germs. Consequently, the brewer may, without his own fault or mis- 
take, find that his beer has a little foul odor or sour taste, or both. 
But he is compelled to put the beer on the market, and the criticism 
is then made that the beer is poor and bad and the brewer must have 
used some improper materials for the production of this beer. If he 
were permitted to employ these preservatives the quality of the beer 
would be improved and there would be less trouble than actually 
exists. As a matter of curiosity, I may add that the Bavarian brewers 
are even forbidden to make use of salicylic acid or similar substances 
for the purpose of washing the yeast. 

The Chairman. Although they are prohibited from using it there, 
yet as a matter of fact you have found some, have you not, in the 
goods that they have shipped to this country — for example, in the 
Bavarian beer? 

Mr. Schwarz. I have never taken a sample from an original pack- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 373 

age, and I am therefore not in a position to state whether or not the 
beer, even if labeled Bavarian beer, was actuallj^ Bavarian beer. 

The Chairman. Yon have fonnd these preservatives, however, in 
English imported ales and porters. Have yon ever analyzed any 
such? 

Mr. SCHWARZ. Bottled ales; yes. 

The Chairman. Have yon fonnd the preservatives there? 

Mr. SCHWARz. Yes. 

The Chairman. And in larger quantities, you say, than is used here? 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes. 

The Chairman. The committee would like to have your opinion as 
to whether there ought to be a national law fixing a standard of beer. 

Mr. Schwarz. I do not know what is understood by the term stand- 
ard of beer. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a standard of 
beer. It would be wrong to create a standard by sajnngthat not more 
than 70 pounds of material should be used for the production of a 
barrel of beer, or that the minimum quantity should be 50 or 40 pounds. 
It would be equally wrong to prescribe to the brewers that the beer 
to be put on the market should contain not less or not more than a 
given quantity of alcohol. This would be interfering with the require- 
ments of the public and their tastes and also with the skill of the 
brewer. If I am not mistaken, it was Mr. Gladstone who, so far back 
as 1880, told the members of the English Parliament that the brewing 
industry should not be interfered with in such trifling matters as to 
dictate to the brewers what they should or should not use so long as 
they do not use anything but good sound materials which are not dele- 
terious and which produce good sound beer. 

The Chairman. That speech of Mr. Gladstone's was made in explain- 
ing a bill in which a proposition was made to fix a standard of beer to 
contain nothing but malt, hops, and water, and he spoke, if I correctly 
understand it, in favor of allowing the brewer to use what materials 
were proper to make beer and not limit him to those particular ingre- 
dients, and the English commission reported in that way. 

Mr. Schwarz. That was my understanding of the matter. 

The Chairman. But you know that there are many grades of beer 
in this country, do you not? 

Mr. Schwarz. I do not know what is understood by the word 
"grades." 

The Chairman. Well, there are some beers, for instance, in this 
country made of pure malt and hops and water; others are made bj'' 
substituting for hops this extract of hops that you have mentioned, 
and some are using another extract. Some brewers use glucose as 
a substitute for the malt. Some use greater quantities than others. 
Some have less alcohol and some have more. Some use a second or 
third grade of barley, and some use the best they can get. Ought there 
not to be some way fixed by which the consumer may know what he 
is paying for — the same as, for instance, when you go to buy butter, 
if they want to sell you oleomargarine it has to be marked "Oleomar- 
garine?" So, if you want to buy fiour, and ask for flour, if they give 
you mixed flour it must be stamped " Mixed flour." The question is, 
do you not believe there ought to be some standard or some way fixed 
by the Government, as other governments have done, so that the con- 
sumer may know what he is buying and what he is paying for? 

Mr. Schwarz. It is, in my opinion, impossible to fix a standard, and 
I wish to call attention to the fact that no other arovernment has ere- 



374 ADULTERATION <)K FOOD PRODUCTS. 

ated a standard or fixed one beyond saying, as in the case of the Gov- 
ernment of Bavaria and a few other States in Germany that have 
adopted the policy, that nothing should enter the combination of beer 
except malt, hops, and water, and that the fermenting agent should 
be yeast. But even in those countries there is no standard fixed as to 
gravity of beer or percentage of alcohol, etc. 

The Chairman. The government inspects there the material that 
goes in. Does not the government inspect in every country the ma- 
terial that goes into tlie beer? 

Mr, Schwarz. No; the government does not inspect, to my knowl- 
edge; but in some of the countries the tax on beer is collected on the 
amount of material used. 

The Chairman. When they do that they limit the amount of beer 
that may be produced from the material, do they not? 

Mr. Schwarz. No ; they do not do that in any country. 

The Chairman. Have you read what is known as the Brosius bill? 

Mr. Schwarz. Yes. 

The Chairman. Can you state briefly the terms of that bill in re- 
gard to beer? - 

Mr. Schwarz. I do not recollect that it deals specifically with beer. 
It says "articles of food," etc. 

I may conclude my answer as to the standard of beer and define 
my position as follows : 

There should, for the benefit of the people and the brewers of the 
United States, be appointed a commission, with the same powers as 
that of the British Parliament, and take testimonj^ for the purpose of 
answering one question, which is, what materials may be used for the 
production of a wholesome, palatable beer. 

There is no doubt that if the matter is probed to the bottom and 
every logical argument rightfully considered the moral judgment will 
be that there is nothing to be said against the employment of cereals 
and sugars as substitutes and adjuncts for malt. It will be found 
that the moderate use of preservatives should be rather encouraged 
than prohibited, and that it should be left to the discretion of the 
brewer to employ preservatives or not. He would certainly not go to 
the expense of adding preservatives if he did not see that the quality 
of the beer was thereby improved, without doing any harm to the 
consumer. 

As to the matter of hops, it will be found that all statements made 
with regard to the employment of hop substitutes can not be proven, 
in that no hop substitutes are employed, and that there is no possi- 
bility, at the present time at least, of employing any hop substitutes, 
because there is no substance known which could substitute hops; 
all are a part of the hop. By which I mean to say that we do not 
know of any aromatic substance which could substitute the elementary 
constituents of hops. Nor do we know of any wholesome bitter which 
could be employed instead of the bitter principle conveyed in hops. 

TESTIMONY OF HERBERT WILLIAM WIGAN. 

Herbert William Wigan sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and occupation. 

Mr. Wigan. I am with the H. Clausen & Son Brewing Company, 
New York. I am brewing master; address, 309 East Forty-seventh 
street. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 375 

The Chairman. How long have you held the position of brew 
master? 

Mr. WiGAN. I have been a brewer for eighteen years. 

The Chairman. You began early in life? 

Mr. WiGAN. When I was eighteen years old. 

The Chairman. This committee is investigating, under the author- 
ity of the Senate of the United States, the question as to what food 
and drink products are adulterated, and what, if any, adulterants 
are used that are simply frauds, frauds upon the consumer. We are at 
present investigating the question of malt liquors, and I desire to ask 
you a few questions, not with a view of inquiring into any of the 
secrets of yoiir employers or of your own, but to ascertain, in a proper 
way, the method of manufacturing the goods that you make. I will 
therefore ask you a few direct questions. Do you use any preserva- 
tives, salicylic acid or other acids, to preserve beer? 

Mr. WiGAN. Yes. 

The Chairman. You have heard the evidence of the last witness, 
Mr. Schwarz? 

Mr. WiGAN. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you agree with him as to the use of those? 

Mr. WiGAN. Most thoroughly. 

The Chairman. What percentage do you think you use in, say, a 
bottle of beer? 

Mr. WiGAN. I think the amount that Mr. Schwarz stated is rather 
larger than I should use myself. I am not acquainted with what other 
brewers do here. I have only been brewing in the United States for 
two years. My experience has been in England, Ireland, and Australia. 

The Chairman. You think the quantity should be less than one one- 
hundredth of one per cent? 

Mr. WiGAN. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use anything besides salicylic acid? 

Mr. WiGAN. We use bisulphite of lime. 

The Chairman. Do you use anything besides hops, malt, and water 
for the manufacture of beer? 

Mr. Wigan. Yes. 

The Chairman, What, if any, substitutes do you use for hops? 

Mr. Wigan. None. 

The Chairman. And for malt what substitutes? 

Mr. Wigan. Corn or cereals and sugar. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture this sugar yourself? 

Mr. Wigan. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Is it what is ordinarily known as corn sugar or grape 
sugar? 

Mr. Wigan. Yes; glucose, or grape sugar. We are brewers of 
beer and ale. We use grape sugar for ale and a very small percent- 
age of glucose for beer. 

The Chairman. You say a very small percentage. What percent- 
age should you say? 

Mr. Wigan. From 7 to 10 per cent, I will say, in the beer, with per- 
haps 20 or perhaps 25 per cent of corn as an adjunct to the malt. 

The Chairman. As I understand it, this is an unmalted cereal. 

Mr. Wigan. Yes. 

The Chairman. As a man skilled in your business, as you ought 
to be with your experience, do you consider that the use of that 
unmalted cereal, which is used in place of malt, deteriorates or 
detracts from the value of the beer as a food product? 



376 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PBODUCTS. 

Mr. WiGAN. On the contrary, it very much improves it. 

The Chairman. Improves it in what way? 

Mr. WiGAN. Nowadays the tendency is to have a far lighter beer 
or ale than in former days, and in order to produce this light and 
palatable kind of ale undoubtedly the use of 25 per cent, say, of this 
is necessary — to produce a light, sparkling beer, such as is required 
by the people. 

The Chairman. It makes a more palatable and more popular beer? 

Mr. VViGAN. Yes. 

The Chairman. I suppose you would not say, however, from the 
standpoint of a dietician, whether it was more excellent as a food 
product or not? 

Mr. WiGAN. I should say it was better. 

The Chairman. When you were brewing in England did you use 
these same antiseptics? 

Mr. WiGAN. Exactly the same and in very much similar quantities 
to what are used here. I think we used rather more in England. I 
agree with Professor Schwarz that perhaps more was used in England 
than here. 

The Chairman. How was it in Ireland? 

Mr. WiGAN. There they used more malt. There they used more 
stout and porter, and in those the color has not so much to do with the 
matter. 

The Chairman, How was it in Australia? 

Mr. WiGAN. Exactly the same substitutes were used and to a larger 
extent. The hotter the climate, as a rule, the more adjunct was used. 

The Chairman. The more substitute? 

Mr. Wigan. I do not call it a substitute. All these things are 
starch — the same as malt. The starch is the same, but converted into 
sugar. 

The Chairman. The warmer the climate the more antiseptic or pre- 
servative is used? 

Mr. Wigan. That is the general tendency. Of course the material 
may be so good and sound as that only the same amount of preserva- 
tive might be used. That depends on the preservative used. 

The Chairman. You use the pasteurizing process, do you not? 

Mr. Wigan. Yes. 

The Chairman. In other words, you boil the beer after it is bottled 
and corked? 

Mr. Wigan. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you heat it up to 140°? 

Mr. Wigan. Up to 140 or 158 or 160, according to the variations of 
the climate to which it is to be subjected. 

The Chairman. The farther away or the farther south it has to be 
shipped the more particular you are in sterilizing it? 

Mr. Wigan. Yes. 

TESTIMONY OF FREDERICK KRUESLER. 

Frederick Kruesler, sworn and examined; 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr, Kruesler. I am a brewmaster. 

The Chairman. By whom are you employed? 

Mr. Kruesler. I am employed at the James Everard Brewery. 

The Chairman. In New York City? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 377 

Mr. Kruesler, 111 New York City. 

The Chairman. What are your duties as brewmaster? 

Mr. Kruesler. I liave to brew lager beer. 

The Chairman. Do you superintend the work? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you have charge of all the material that goes 
into the beer? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you personally see to the brewing, the mixing 
of the various elements, etc.? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservatives or antiseptics? 

Mr. Kruesler. No; we pasteurize it. 

The Chairman. Who buys the material? 

Mr. Kruesler. Mr. Everard. 

The Chairman. Do you personally see it when it comes in? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you know everything that goes into the beer? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Where did you learn the brewing business? 

Mr. Kruesler. In this country. 

The Chairman. How long have you worked at it? 

Mr. Kruesler. About twenty-eight years. 

The Chairman. Did you ever use any acids in the manufacture of 
beer before you worked for your present employer? 

Mr. Kruesler. I have heard that they were used, but I have never 
used any. 

The Chairman. No preservatives? 

Mr. Kruesler. Oh, yes; I have heard of preservatives being used. 

The Chairman. Have you ever used any? 

Mr. Kruesler. No ; I have never used any. 

The Chairman. To what degree of heat do you subject your bottled 
beer when you pasteurize it? 

Mr. Kruesler. From 140° to 160°. If it is to go to a very hot 
climate we pasteurize it again — the same bottle heated twice. 

The Chairman. You take it out of the water and then put it in 
again, or do you let it cool off? 

Mr. Kruesler. We let it cool off. 

The Chairman. Do you use any substitute for hops? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You do not use anything to preserve hops or hop 
extracts? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You use the hops and nothing in place of hops? 

Mr. Kruesler. That is right. 

The Chairman. For malt do you use anything? 

Mr. Kruesler. We use rice sometimes to make a pale beer. 

The Chairman. Do you use corn? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You make different kinds of beer, I suppose. Do 
you make any of just hops, malted water? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir; we use a little rice. Our beer is mostly 
of a light standard, and we use rice with it. 

The Chairman. Do you use any coloring matter at all? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. What percentage of rice do you use do you think? 



378 ADULTERATION <)F B^OOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Kruesler. Not over 20 per cent. 

The Chairman. Take the question of glucose. You have heard of 
the u.se of glucose in beer? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use it? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You do not use sugar of any kind? 

Mr. Kruesler. No. 

The Chairman. Nor any preservatives? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Would you favor a law that compelled the brewers 
of the country to name the ingredients that they use in the manufac- 
ture of beer? 

Mr. Kruesler. As a practical brewer, I do not know much about 
that. 

The Chairman. You would not want to give instructions about 
other people's business? 

Mr. Kruesler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You know that as far as you are concerned j'^ou do 
not use glucose nor antiseptics? 

Mr. Kruesler. No. 

The Chairman. The only cereal you use is rice, and about 20 per 
cent of that when you want to make a light beer? 

Mr. Kruesler. Yes. 

The committee adjourned until Tuesday, November 14, 1899, at 
10.30 a. m. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Tuesday, November 1U-, 1899. 

TESTIMONY OF J. CHRISTIAN G, HUPFEL. 

J. Christian G. Hupfel, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Name your residence and occupation. 

Mr. Hupfel. I reside at 148 East Twenty-seventh street. New York 
City. I am a brewer by trade. 

The Chairman. How long have you been engaged in the brewery 
business? 

Mr. Hupfel. About forty-one years. 

The Chairman. Do you brew beer, ale, or porter? 

Mr. Hupfel. Lager beer. 

The Chairman. This committee is investigating, under authority of 
a resolution of the United States Senate, two propositions in regard to 
adulterations of food and drink. First, as to adulterations that are 
deleterious to public health; and second, as to adulterations that are 
in fraud of the purchaser — that is, adulterations that cheapen the 
goods and result in selling to the purchaser an article cheaper than 
that which he thinks he is buying. I desire to ask you some questions, 
and will state for the benefit of all who are here that I have no disposi- 
tion to pry into your private affairs or your trade secrets, but ask these 
questions simply in order to ascertain generally what you are making 
beer of. We only ask that which you are willing to tell and which 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 379 

everybody is willing should be known to the public. One of the 
prejudices against the class of goods which you manufacture is 
caused by the statement that to a certain extent beer is preserved by 
some antiseptic which is dangerous to the public health. I will ask 
you whether you use any j^reservative or antiseptic in the manufac- 
ture of 3'our beer? 

Mr. IIuPFEL. I do not. 

The Chairman. Where is your brewerj^? 

Mr. HuPFEL. At 229 East Twenty-ninth street, New York City. 

The Chairman. Do you yourself own more than one brewery? 

Mr. HuPFEL. No; I do not. One is enough just now. 

The Chairman. Did you ever use in the process of brewing any 
antiseptics, salicylic acid, or any acids? 

Mr. HuPFEL. I guess I used it about ten oi' twelve years ago — that 
is, for bottling purposes in the summer time. 

The Chairman. What do you use now instead of that? 

Mr. HuPFEL. We just pasteurize the beer. If it is to be consumed 
within a week or two, we do not use anything at all. If it is to be 
consumed after some time or to be kept very long, we pasteurize it in 
bottles. 

The Chairman. When was that pasteurizing process discovered? 

Mr. HuPFEL. About fifteen or twenty years ago; fifteen years, 
anyway. 

The Chairman. You say that since that time you have never used 
any preservatives? 

Mr. HuPFEL. No. 

The Chairman. Of what do you make your beer? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Of hops, malt, corn, and plenty of water. 

The Chairman. Do you use any rice? 

Mr. HuPFEL. No; we have not used any rice. I have tried it occa- 
sionally. 

The Chairman. The corn you use is unmalted, I suppose? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes; unmalted. It is so-called "hominy." It is a little 
finer hominy. Hominy is sifted out of the hominy which we get. It 
is ground finer. 

The Chairman. There are different grades of beer in this country, 
are there not? 

Mr. HuPFEL. In regard to the body, yes. Some beer we brew at 12 
per cent "kaiser." The lager-beer brewers run generally on the Ger- 
man scale known as " kaiser" and the particular degree as 10 or 12 
per cent kaiser. 

The Chairman. When you say " 10 per cent kaiser," what does 
that signify? 

Mr. HuPFEL. The scale will show 10 per cent. 

The Chairman. But what do you mean by " kaiser?" 

Mr. HuPFEL. I could not tell you exactly. I can not say what that 
is. It is the scale that the German brewers all use. 

Mr. Brown. It means 10 per cent of extract. 

The Chairman. That is what is meant by 10 per cent of body? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes. 

The Chairman. In other words, if I take a certain number of bush- 
els of barley malt and a certain amount of corn and hops, sufficient to 
ferment, and use with that, say, 50 gallons of water, it will have a 
higher percentage of kaiser than if I used 100 gallons of water? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes; of course it would be just double. The hops do 
not add anything to the extract. It is the extract of malt and the 



380 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

corn that counts, just as they are weighed by the scale. Hops do not 
add anything to the body of the beer; at least not perceptibly; it is so 
small that it does not add anything. 

The Chairman. Do you bottle beer? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes. I do not do so individually. I have a bottler in 
the establishment. 

The Chairman. You do not use any antiseptics — salicylic acid, or 
anything of that kind in your bottled beer? 

Mr. HuPFEL. No ; nothing at all. 

The Chairman. Let me ask your opinion with reference to the 
question of having a national law on the subject of beer. What would 
you think, as a business man and as a brewer, of having some gov- 
ernmental regulation as to a standard of beer? 

Mr. HuPFEL. As a brewer I would not object at all to have the Gov- 
ernment regulate what should be used in the manufacture of beer 
which is not detrimental to health ; that is, the United States Govern- 
ment; but if the States should do that, it would be a bad thing; 
because, suppose New York State should pass such a law, Jersey beer 
would be brought in here, and there would be no way of telling what 
that beer would be made of, whether of glucose, malt, or whatever 
else it might be made of. After fermentation you could not say what 
a beer was made of. 

The general opinion of the brewers that belong to our association is 
that they have no objection to the United States Government passing 
a law preventing brewers from using anything that is detrimental to 
health, whether the thing so used is raw or manufactured. 

The Chairman. Do you ever use smy extract of hops? 

Mr. HuPFEL. No; I have never used it. There is some in the mar- 
ket, but I have not used it. 

TESTIMONY OF HENRY J. LIPPE. 

Henry J. Lippe, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Lippe. I am president of the Elias Brewing Company. 

The Chairman. Where do you reside? 

Mr. Lippe. At No. 2 Beekman place, New York City. 

The Chairman. Are you a practical brewer? 

Mr. Lippe. I am not, sir. I am a merchant. My business has 
always been the commercial part of the work of manufacturing beer. 

The Chairman. You have nothing to do with the mixture or the 
manufacture of the beer itself? 

Mr. Lippe. No, but I am more or less familiar with it. 

The Chairman. You know in a general way what is manufactured 
in your concern, do you? 

Mr. Lippe. Yes; nothing is used that I do not purchase. 

The Chairman. You see what is purchased and I suppose you 
audit the accounts as president? 

Mr. Lippe. I do audit the accounts. I audit every bill, and I do all 
the purchasing myself. 

The Chairman. What do you buy to make beer of? 

Mr. Lippe. Grain, hops; some rice. 

The Chairman. You buy some rice? 

Mr. Lippe. Yes, we have done so off and on. It depends on the 
market whether we buy rice or hominy. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 381 

The Chairman. Do yon buy any substitute for hops? 

Mr. LiPPE. No. 

The Chairman. Do you ever use lupuline? 

Mr. LiPPE. No; we have not used it. 

The Chairman. That is simply a product of the hop, I understand? 

Mr. LiPPE. It is the active principle of the hop. It is extracted in 
the years when hops are verj^ cheap. 

The Chairman. Do you use any antiseptics? 

Mr. LiPPE. None whatever. 

The Chairman. You use nothing to preserve the beer? 

Mr. LiPPE. No. 

The Chairman. Any coloring matter? 

Mr. LiPPE, Yes. 

The Chairman. Is that coloring matter burnt sugar? 

Mr. LiPPE, Either dark malt or sometimes sugar. 

The Chairman. You are a business man and i^resident of a brewing 
association. Please tell me whether you think you use anything in 
the manufacture of your goods that is noxious or deleterious to public 
health. 

Mr. LiPPE. We do not. 

The Chairman. Nothing that you would not be willing to take 
yourself or to have your family take? 

Mr. LiPPE. No; we are drinking it ourselves in mj- family, and cer- 
tainly we use nothing of the kind. 

The Chairman. You realize the difference, I suppose, between the 
different grades of beer in this country? For instance, I might use 
the same amount of barley malt, the same amount of corn, the same 
amount of hops, and the same quantitj' of water, yet if I introduce a 
lower gi'ade of malt and a lower grade of hops and a lower grade of 
barley I make an inferior grade of beer to the beer that you manufac- 
ture. Is not that true? 

Mr. LiPPE. Yes. 

The Chairman. That is, the material that goes into the beer has 
largely to do with it, like the material that goes into bread. 

Mr. LiPPE. Certainly. Poor malt can not make good beer. 

The Chairman. And the poorer the malt and l)arley malt, or what- 
ever you use, the poorer the beer, or the lower standard it is. Would 
it, in your opinion, change the degree or standard of Kaiser? 

Mr. LiPPE. Poor malt certainly would. It would not be beer of 
that fine quality as if made of a fine quality of material. It would be 
sound beer, but it would not be as good ; it would not be as fine. 

The Chairman. Would you, as a business man and interested in 
your business, favor a standard to be fixed by the Government — not 
saying what cereals or materials should be used, but simply prescrib- 
ing that a certain amount 'of malt extract should be contained in the 
beer? 

Mr. LiPPE. I think that all good brewei's would welcome a law by 
Congress prohibiting the use of anything else but grain and hops. 
If Congress would pass such a law, one that could not be evaded, 
something like the Bavarian law, I think that all good brewers would 
welcome it. We should be glad to have it and have it applied all 
over the United States, and have it of suc^h a nature that it could not 
be evaded. The main thing would be that the law should be such as 
that everyone should be bound to observe it. If it were carefully 
drawn and without loopholes, I am sure it would be welcomed by the 
brewers. 



382 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Honest brewers would observe it? 

Mr. LIPPE. Yes. 

Mr. HuPFEL. Everyone seems to harp on Bavarian beer. Why is it 
that Bavaria uses only hops and malt? Because that is how the Gov- 
ernment of Bavaria gets its income, its internal revenue. The brewers 
there are taxed for so many bushels of malt used. That is why they 
are harping on Bavarian beer — "brewed only from hops and malt." 
If they did not get their internal revenue from that, they could use 
anything that they had a mind to. They do not tax the beer at all 
in Bavaria. 

Tue Chairman. They tax the material that goes into it? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes. 

The Chairman. And it is so much malt? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes. 

Mr. LiPPE. The consequence is that nothing else can be used, and 
the law can not be evaded. 

Mr. HuPPEL. In Austria they can use anything. The inspector 
comes around 

The Chairman. You say that in Austria they can use anything. 
You mean by that that they can use anything in thatcountr}^ as they 
can in England, except that they can not, as I understand it, in Aus- 
tria use antiseptics or preservatives. 

Mr. HuPFEL. I do not know anything about that. 

The Chairman. And also in Bavaria. I understand that there they 
can not use antiseptics. 

Mr. HuPFEL. I so understand. 

The Chairman. But as for beer that is intended for export, they 
can use antiseptics — that is, there is no regulation as to what Bava- 
rians may do with the beer that is intended to be exported to other 
countries — as, for instance, if it is to be sent to us here. 

Mr. HuPFEL. So I understand. 

The Chairman. That is the information I have. You certainly 
would agree with me that the proposition is a sound one that we ought 
to prohibit the importation of all food articles — and we should remem- 
ber that beer is one of those articles — the sale of which is prohibited 
in their own country. 

Mr. HuPFEL. That is so. 

The Chairman. You would favor that as a business man, would 
you? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Certainly. 

The Chairman. For instance, take the case of coffee. The Ger- 
mans are not allowed to sell as coffee a black, sour bean which is 
called coffee. 

Mr. HuPFEL. I do not think that there is any article in the United 
States sold or made that is so pure as lager beer. I think it is the 
least adulterated of any article made. 

The Chairman. Look at the pajjer which I now show you, which is 
entitled " Chemical combinations of standard beers." I am informed 
by Dr. O'Sullivan that it is the German standard. You spoke of the Ger- 
man standard, I think. Please see if you recognize that as the German 
standard. I understand that this table is based on a long series of 
experiments conducted by Prof. Gustav Rupp, and has been adopted 
by the German Government. It purports to state the different pro- 
portions of different chemical elements beer should contain. Of course, 
I do not ask that your answer shall he exactly accurate, but you can 
state what your understanding is with reference to the matter. You 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



383 



may let any of your friends here who understand the subject and who 
may become witnesses examine it if they wish. 
The paper shown to Mr. Hupfel is as follows: 

Chemical combinations of 100 cubic centimeters of standard beers. 





>, 




















i 


-d 




•| 




-d 
















ss 


tS 




2 




S 














•o 


s 


.2 










o 


1 


a 


u 


.a 






00 

1 


.a 

Q. 




u 


J3 




t-i 








o 


+3 










e« 


U 


o 




fi 


M 




>, 


q 


a 


2 




& 


^ 


6 


< 


^ 


< 


3 


Q 


5 


c3 


S 




Lager 


1.0162 
1.0176 


90.08 
89.01 


0.196 
.309 


3.93 

4.40 


5.79 
6.38 


0.71 
.74 


0.88 
1.30 


3.73 

2.47 


0.165 
.154 


0.151 
.161 


0.228 
.247 


0.077 


Export beer 


.074 


Bock beer 


1.0213 


87.87 


.2;m 


4.69 


7.21 


.73 


1.81 


3.97 


.176 


.165 


.263 


.089 


Ale 


1.0140 
1.0300 
1.0657 


88.00 
88.10 
55.80 


.200 
.190 


5.00 
4.90 
19.72 


6.40 

9.60 

24.35 


.54 

.60 

1.30 


.95 
2.40 
11.82 


1.70 

2.80 
7.48 


.250 
.240 


.260 
.250 
.210 


.3(X) 
.340 
.350 


.160 


Porter 


.085 


Condensed beer 


.160 



Composition of beer ash. 



[Calculated for 100 cubic centimeters of beer.] 

Potassium 33.67 

Sodmm 8.94 

Calcium--. 2.78 

Magnesium 6.24 

Ferric oxide --. 48 

Phosphoric acid _ 31. 35 

Chlorides... 2.93 

Sulphuric acid ,. 3. 47 

Fluoric acid... 9,29 

Mr. Hupfel (after looking at the paper). Mj^ opinion is that that 
is about the average as they will run. 

The Chairman. That is the German standard, as near as your 
memory serves youV 

Mr. Hupfel. Yes ; but different brewers differ. Take this city, for 
instance. As to the chemical part of the process, there are not any 
two brewers that agree. There are not any two that have the same 
extracts as they are pointed out in this paper. 

The Chairman. And even two brews from the same brewery differ 
somewhat as to the extracts? 

Mr. Hupfel. Yes. It is just like coffee. In one house you get 
altogether a different flavor from what you do in another. 

Mr. Broun. There is also a difference produced by time. A beer 
30 days old has more extract than a beer 8 months old. 

Mr. Hupfel. And one brewer will mash a little differently from 
another brewer. He will take a little longer in the heats. So no two 
brewers get the same identical results all the way through. 

The Chairman. But there is a standard below which it ought not 
to go? 

Mr. Hemphill. I do not see that there is any detriment in saying 
how low a standard shall go in an extract, because the other ingredi- 
ents will be in proportion. People who get one beer may get a lighter- 
body beer than another. They will get more water and less extract. 
I do not think water will hurt anj^body. 



384 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You do not think you ought to sell water for beer, 
however? 

Mr. HUPFEL. Oh, no. 

The Chairman. In other words, there ought to be prescribed at 
least a minimum amount of malt extract in all the beer you sell, should 
there not, in order to be perfectly fair with your customers? 

Mr. HuPFEL. Yes; that is so, of course. 

The Chairman (to Mr. Hupfel). I am glad j^ou interposed these 
remarks that you have made, as I am anxious that the committee shall 
have all the information possible. [Addressing Mr. LipjDC.] I think 
you stated that you used no substitutes for hops in the manufacture 
of your beer? 

Mr. LiPPE. I did. 

The Chairman. And you do not use antiseptics in bottled beer? 

Mr. LiPPE. Not necessarily. We only sell to men who have the 
facilities for pasteurizing the beer. That makes the use of antiseptics 
entirely unnecessary and simply foolish. In the case of people who 
have no means of keeping beer, who nave no proper facilities, we do 
not sell to them. We have for years refused to sell to bottlers and 
do not bottle ourselves. 

The Chairman. If, however, you were going to send beer abroad, 
to England, Germany, or Bavaria, would you feel that the pasteuriz- 
ing process would be sufficient to keep it for six months? 

Mr. LiPPE. It will keep it indefinitely under our conditions. You 
can send it to the Tropics and bring it back in good condition. 

Mr, Hupfel. In bottles? 

Mr. LiPPE. In bottles. Pasteurizing only applies to bottled goods, 
and antiseptics are used only for bottled goods. 

The Chairman. It has been stated before this committee that anti- 
septics are used considerably in imported beer — beers imported in the 
wood. 

Mr. LiPPE, I have not the slightest doubt of it. 

The Chairman. They can not pasteurize it in wood, can they? 

Mr. LipPE. No. 

The Chairman. And it has got to be preserved in some way? 

Mr. LiPPE. Yes. 

The Chairman. In other words, if j'ou were going to send your beer 
away in the keg or barrel — say, to send it around the world, to hot 
climates, and bring it back — you would be obliged to use some pre- 
servative, would you? 

Mr. LiPPE. No; we have never used any. 

The Chairman. Then why would it be necessary for the imj)orters 
of foreign goods — foreign beers — to j)reserve their beers by these 
antiseptics? 

Mr. LipPE. I can only answer you in this way, Mr. Chairman : If a 
foreign house should apply to us for goods in bulk, I would make it 
plain to them that unless those goods were subjected to a very low 
temperature they would not keep. If you put such goods on board 
these great big steamers having facilities for keejping such things, you 
can keep the beers as long as you please; but if on other vessels, it 
would be altogether different ; unless you have the facilities for main- 
taining a low temperature, the cask would not be able to hold the beer. 

Mr. Hupfel. You mean lager beer? 

Mr. LiPPE. Lager beer, of course. I do not know anything about 
ale. We do not make ale. You could not keep the beer from fer- 
mentation except under a low temperature, and if the facilities on the 
vessels are such, it can be transported. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 385 

The Chairman. But no one has gone to the expense of pasteurizing 
that beer in the wood? 

Mr. LiPPE. It could not be done. 

Mr. HUPFEL. It has been tried. 

The Chairman. The pasteurizing process means that you heat tlie 
beer up to 140° Fahrenheit? 

Mr. LiPPE. Yes; or to 146, or in that neighborhood. 

The Chairman. Then, that being the case, the only way you could 
pasteurize beer in wood would be to put your barrels into a vat and 
boil them. 

Mr. LiPPE, Unless it were left too long in the vat I do not think it 
could be done. The heat would have to be very great to penetrate 2 
inches of wood and the large bulk of the contents. I do not think it 
could be done. 

The Chairman. Then it is your opinion that imported beers, not 
being pasteurized, must be preserved in some way in order that they 
may be shipi)ed here? 

Mr. LiPPE. I believe that they contain some antiseptics. 

The Chairman. Our Government officials, under the direction of 
this committee, are analyzing a number of these articles now, and 
we shall know what percentage they contain before we make our 
report, I hope. I think I have nothing further to ask you, Mr. Lippe, 
unless you wish to make some statement? 

Mr. Lippe. There is nothing that I wish to say further. 



TESTIMONY OF JOHN W. BROWN. 

John W. Brown, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Brown. I am president of the "Long Island Brewery." The 
concern is a corporation, but it w^as organized under the laws as they 
existed before the w^ord ' ' company " was required to be added to the 
title. 

The Chairman. Are you a practical brewer? 

Mr. Brown. Yes, sir. I have not done any actual brewing myself 
for some years, but I formerly did the brewing in our firm, or cor- 
poration. 

The Chairman. What connection do you have with the business 
now? 

Mr. Brown. I am president of the company now. 

The Chairman. Do you give any personal attention to the business 
itself? 

Mr. Brown. I give all my time and attention to it. 

The Chairman. You are in the establishment a good deal of the 
time? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. Then you have general knowledge as to the mate- 
rials that are used in the manufacture of beer. 

Mr. Brown. General knowledge; yes. 

The Chairman. Then you know what you buy to make your beer of? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. What do you make the beer of? 

Mr. Brown. We make our beer of hops, malt, grits, sometimes 
grape sugar 

FP 35 



386 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Grape sugar? That is, glucose? 

Mr. Brown. No, sir. There is a difference between grape sugar 
and glucose. One is a liquid and the other is a solid. 

The Chairman. That is used to reduce the amount of malt that 
you use? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. When you use grape sugar, so-called, do you also 
use corn? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. In the same brew? 

Mr. Brown. The same brew. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservatives? 

Mr. Brown. Only in the case of export beer or beer for very long 
shipment. 

The Chairman. Then what is used? 

Mr. Brown. Well, we have experimented with salicylic acid, but 
we have not been very well satisfied with it. 

The Chairman. For your ordinary consumption in and about New 
York, do you use any preservatives? 

Mr. Brown. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you use preservatives at all in your barreled 
beer? 

Mr. Brown. No. 

The Chairman. But you would feel, if it were going on a long 
shipment in a barrel, to be subjected to changing temperatures, that 
there ought to be some preservative? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. To keep the beer from fermenting? 

Mr. Brown. I doubt whether it would keep under changing condi- 
tions without something of that kind; that is, I doubt whether it would 
keep in a condition in which people would want to :lrink it. It might 
still be beer, but it might not be very palatable beer. 

The Chairman. You have had no experience, I suppose, Mr. Brown, 
in brewing in the old country? 

Mr. Brown. No, sir; I only know of that from what I have read, 
and that is only as to England. 

The Chairman. Is there a difference, so far as you know, between 
the manner of separating the yeast ferment in that country and the 
manner in which it is dealt with in this country? Do they handle it 
there any way differently from the way in which it is handled here? 

Mr. Brown. Do you mean the addition of the yeast to the sweet 
water before it is fermented? 

The Chairman. As I understand, there comes a time when, at the 
fomentation or fermentation of the yeast, it is proper to insert it then, 
and not proper at any other time. Is there an established difference 
between the manner of brewing in that respect in this country and in 
any other country, so far as you know? 

Mr. Brown. I would have to answer that in this way : That so far 
as the making of ale is concerned in this country and in England I 
know of no difference in the time of adding the yeast, and can not con- 
ceive of any difference existing. As to the time they add the yeast to 
lager beer in Germany, of that I am not informed. 

Mr. HuPFEL. It is the same here as it is in Europe, and in Europe 
the same as here. 

Mr. Brown. The process is to separate one healthy yeast cell from 
aU other yeast cells, and put that one cell into a solution that will 



ADULTEBATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 387 

enable it to reproduce itself — the sugar solution, or a solution contain- 
ing some sugar and some malt extract. That cell multiplies, and that 
is added to another and still another until you get enough from that 
one isolated cultured cell to make a whole brewing of beer. 

The Chairman. What I want to get at is this: It has been stated to 
the committee, though I do not know that it is in the record, that that 
is a matter requiring skill and care, and when that skill and care are 
used there is no need of preservatives, but when it is not carefully 
used preservatives are absolutely necessary. 

Mr. Brown. I do not view it in that light. You may start out with 
one yeast cell and get a crop from which you start your fermentation. 
Those fermenting vessels are open and exposed to the air. Any bac- 
teria or germs that may be floating in the air will fall into the open 
vat, and all the care you may have taken in selecting that particular 
cell is nullified. 

The only way that the difficulty could be avoided would be to do it 
to the exclusion of the air — that is to say, in a vacuum — which Pro- 
fessor Pasteur tried some years ago, for which he built a brewery in 
which beer was not to come in contact with the air at all. 

Pasteur started with one cultured cell and added that to one which 
had been mashed and boiled to the exclusion of the air. In that way 
he made what he called a perfect beer, but it was so perfect that no 
one would drink it. Beers vary in taste by reason of those very bac- 
teria that come into it. For instance, one location may be noted for 
a beer, and there is a certain bacteria in that location that pervades 
all beers made in that locality, and the public or people of that neigh- 
borhood like that taste or flavor of beer, and some other people like it. 
So that I can not understand where we would be benefited or how by 
producing a beer from one yeast cell to commence with. 

The Chairman. Inasmuch as it must be done in the open air? 

Mr. Brov^n. Yes; and if it is not done in the open air, you get a 
beer devoid of character and practically insipid. 

Mr. HuPFEL. The so-called vacuum beer? 

Mr. Brovv^n. Well, to some extent, perhaps. The vacuum beer 
would be a very pure beer. 

The Chairman. But it would be a beer for angels and not for men? 

Mr. Brovs^n. Yes. 

Mr. LiPPE. I can give you an incident from our experience of last 
year. We applied last year to a friend in Munich, Bavaria, to get the 
Bavarian Government to let us have some of their cultured yeast. 
We obtained from the Bavarian Government brewery 100 pounds of 
their pure cultured yeast. We used that; we propagated it and used 
it exclusively. We found as a result that the difference was so imper- 
ceptible that it was not worth the trouble. 

The yeast was not one particle better than the yeast we were using 
before. The result of the fermentation was nothing better. It 
changed the taste of the beer and that was all, and that was not worth 
any trouble except to a man very well accustomed to it. There was 
nothing whatever gained. 

The main thing in the handling of yeast is absolute cleanliness and 
its not coming in contact with deleterious matter. We have had that 
experience through six months, with the result that I have stated. 
We thought that perhaps in Bavaria they had something better than 
we have here, but there was nothing in it. 

Mr. Brovs^n. I may add that we did the same thing. And the yeast 
in our lager beer department to-day is the product of the yeast that 



388 ADULTEBATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

we imported from Germany last winter, but there is no perceptible 
difference in the beer. We have fallen back into our local conditions; 
that is, subject to the bacteria that prevail in this neighborhood. 

The Chairman. I think it is clearly in the record now that no mat- 
ter how it is brewed it must be preserved in some way, either by anti- 
septic or by pasteurizing. 

Mr. Brown. Unless it is meant for immediate consumption. 

The Chairman (handing paper to witness). I now show you a paper 
which I have shown to a witness who preceded you — a paper entitled 
"Chemical combinations of standard beers," and I ask you whether 
that is, according to your recollection, the standard of the German 
Government. I understand that it is a standard fixed by or through 
the experiments of Professor Rupp. 

Mr. Brov\^n (after examining the paper). This appears to me to 
relate to a finished beer, after fermentation. And the beer would 
vary. For instance, after this beer was finished, after it came out of 
the fermenting vats, it would naturally have rather more extract than 
it would at a time later on, because beer never stands still. It is 
always fermenting. There is a silent fermentation going on that is 
converting the sugar into alcohol, and I should judge from the very 
small percentages of sugar noted in this list that it was a beer that 
was old and had been thoroughly fermented out, leaving very little 
sugar and rather a large proportion of alcohol. I see here that one 
of them runs as low as 0.88 per cent of sugar, and it has 3.93 per cent 
of alcohol. 

The Chairman. Practically 4 per cent? 

Mr. Brovs^n. Yes; while the sugar is only 0.88 per cent, showing that 
it has cleaned itself out. People would not want that kind of beer in 
this country. In this country they want something that has more 
extract in it. 

The next beer that I notice in this schedule is "export beer," which 
has 1.20 per cent of sugar, which is still low. In their ale they have 
only 0.95 of sugar. That is rather low. 

You could take this same beer and analj^ze it at a different stage — 
that is, immediately after it was brewed — and you would find a very 
much larger percentage of sugar and a less percentage of alcohol, 
which we consider here to be desirable — a larger percentage of extract 
and a less percentage of alcohol. In fact, the brewer thinks that he 
is the true temperance advocate in giving you a beer with a low 
standard of alcohol and a high standard of extract. 

The Chairman. Now, Mr. Brown, as a business man and the head 
of a business of this kind, speaking from your standpoint of experi- 
ence and knowledge, do you think that the Government ought to exact 
a standard of beer, or that beer, when put out for sale to the public, 
should have a certain amount of extract — a certain percentage? 

Mr. Brown. I should think it would possibly be wise for the United 
States Government to make a standard for beer below which it should 
not go m original gravity. 

The Chairman. That is what I wanted to know. 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. Of course, any State law of that kind would make 
conflicting business interests? 

Mr. Brown. Yes; it might ruin the business of the brewers of one 
State and help those of another. For instance, if the legislature of 
New York State should pass an act requiring a certain standard of 
beer to be manufactured in this State or city, it might bring beer in 



ADULTERATK^N OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 389 

from Connecticut, New Jersey, or Massachusetts that was not up to 
standard, and by that means injure the business of the brewers of this 
State and city. 

If a law passed hy the General Government were to be brought to 
bear, as it would be, all over the United States, I can see no objection 
to such a law. In fact, I believe the brewers would welcome some 
standard fixed by the United States Government. That would relieve 
them of this cry against bad beer or impure beer, and all that sort of 
thing, from which they are unjustly suffering. 

The Chairman. Coming down now to the original question as to 
the purity of goods. You use nothing in the Long Island brewery but 
what you consider perfectly healthful and proper for people to drink? 

Mr, Brow^n. We do not, and we drink it ourselves. 

I wish to say this, however, Mr. Chairman, that there is a great deal 
of beer that leaves any brewery in good condition but is spoiled by 
the bad conditions under which it is afterwards drawn, and the brewer 
suffers for the sins of tlie retailer. I think that more beer spoils in 
the retailers' hands than ever left the brewery spoiled. If you draw 
beer under wrong or improper conditions you injure a good product. 
If a man has foul pipes through which he draws his beer, no matter 
how the beer is when it enters those pipes, it will come out full of 
bacteria of all kinds that do not belong there, and it will come out 
very much changed in its cliaracter ; and I think that that is particu- 
larly the reason of the brewers occasionally being blamed for making 
poor or bad beer. Bad conditions under which beer is drawn are for 
the most part responsible. 

The Chairman. And the way it is kept before being drawn, I sup- 
pose? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 

The Chairman. You mean, in other words, that if a man took good 
champagne and put it in a dirty bottle or should draw it through a 
dirty pipe he would have poor champagne, no matter how good it orig- 
inally was? 

Mr. Brown. Yes. 



TESTIMONY OF JOHN BAUER. 

John Bauer sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Bauer. I am a brewer. 

The Chairman. Where is your place of business? 

Mr. Bauer. I am with F. & M. Schaeffer Brewing Company, in this 
city. 

The Chairman. What position do you hold with them? 

Mr. Bauer. I am the brew master with that concern. 

The Chairman. How long have you been in that business? 

Mr. Bauer. You mean how long I have been with my present firm, 
or how long I have been in the trade? 

The Chairman. How long have you been in the beer-making busi- 
ness? 

Mr. Bauer. About thirty-six years. 

The Chairman. Did you ever brew beer in any other country 
besides this? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes; I learned my trade in Germany as an apprentice. 
I was a brewer there before I came to this country. 



390 ADIJLTEEATIUN OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. What did they use in Germany in the manufacture 
of beer? 

Mr. Bauer. In my time we were using hops, malt, and water, and 
a little rice. 

The Chairman. Whereabouts in Germany did you use these? 

Mr. Bauer. I spent my apprenticeship years in Mannheim, on the 
Rhine, in Germany. 

The Chairman. When did you come to this country? 

Mr. Bauer. In 1870. 

The Chairman. You make jouv own yeast? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you make it here any different from the man- 
ner in which you made it in Germany? 

Mr. Bauer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You are no less careful here and no more careful? 

Mr. Bauer. We are just as careful as we were in Europe. 

The Chairman. The yeast has to be developed in the open air, as I 
understand it? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use in this country any preservatives in 
your beer? 

Mr. Bauer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you pasteurize it? 

Mr. Bauer. We do that, but only for export. 

The Chairman. Do you bottle beer without pasteurizing it some- 
times? 

Mr. Bauer. We do, sir. 

The Chairman. For local trade? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. To what degree Fahrenheit do you bring the heat 
in pasteurizing? 

Mr. Bauer. It depends on how long the beer has to keep and where 
it is going. We bring it up to a heat of 145° or 150°, some of it, and 
some of it to 160° F. 

The Chairman. Do you use any substitute for hops? 

Mr. Bauer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Did you ever use any in Germany? 

Mr. Bauer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You have the real hop there? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes, the real hop. 

The Chairman. Do you use any substitute for malt here? 

Mr. Bauer. I use some cerealine and rice. 

The Chairman. That is a preparation of corn — cerealine? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use any coloring matter? 

Mr. Bauer. Very little. 

The Chairman. You intend to keep your beer up to a certain per- 
centage of malt extract? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. You realize that there is a difference between 
beers, some having a higher malt extract than others? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes; it depends on the fermentation and on the brew- 
ing process. 

The Chairman. In Germany, did j^ou have to keep the beer up to a 
certain standard of malt extract? 

Mr. Bauer. W© did; but generally it was because of the Govern- 



ADULTEKATIUN OF FOOD PEODUCTlS. 391 

ment. We had to use so much malt to a barrel of beer, and it was not 
told to the brewer how heavy he had to make the beer. He could do 
as he pleased. 

The Chairman. But there must be so much malt to a barrel of beer? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes; on account of the taxes. 

The Chairman. The Government kept account in Germany of the 
amount of malt you used? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. And they kept account of the number of barrels 
of beer you sold? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. And they collected the revenue in Germany in that 
way, I understand? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do they allow you to use acids in the beer in Ger- 
many? 

Mr. Bauer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Is there a law against it? 

Mr. Bauer. Well, I do not know that there is. I think it stands to 
the brewer, whether he wants to use it or not. 

The Chairman. So far as you are concerned, you do not use any- 
thing but what is healthful and good for people to drink? 

Mr. Bauer. I never have done any other way. 

The Chairman (exhibiting to witness the paper headed "Chemical 
combinations of standard beers"). This is a paper showing what is 
supposed to be the fixed standard of beer in Germany — the standard 
fixed by Rupp, the chemist. Please look it over and see if it is about 
what you understand the standard of beer to be — that is, it gives the 
amount of alcohol, the amount of sugar, etc., in difiierent kinds of 
beers. 

Mr. HUPFEL. Who is this chemist, Rupp? 

The Chairman. As I understand, he is or was a German chemist, 
who, after a long course of study and experiments, fixed this stand- 
ard for different beers. The matter has only just been called to my 
attention. 

Mr. HuPPEL, In Germany, is this? 

The Chairman. As I understand it, this is in Germany, and per- 
haps it is made a part of the German law, but I do not know. I should 
like to have some information on that subject and shall probably have 
some. 

Mr. HuPFEL. I suppose it is like diiferent chemists having different 
ideas or just like diiferent doctors would have different ideas. 

Mr. Bauer. These analyses, I think, must be of a very old beer — a 
very old lager. 

The Chairman. That is, you judge that from the amount of sugar 
and the gravity? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. We never keep beer so old as this in this country. 

The Chairman. You mean that upon looking over this paper, which 
is headed "Chemical combinations of standard beers," purporting to 
give what is called a standard of beer in Germany, assuming that 
that is a correct standard, it strikes you as being old beer? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. On account of its specific gravity and the propor- 
tions given of these different kinds of beer? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes. 

The Chairman. "Lager" means "stored," does it not? 



392 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Bauer, Yes. 

The Chairman. In Germany they keep their beer longer than we 
do here, do they not? 

Mr. Bauer. Not always, I think. It may be so in some cases. 

The Chairman. The people of this country want a fresh beer, right 
from the vat, do they not? 

Mr. Bauer. Yes; it is more uniform and better for the body. It is 
heavier. 

Mr. Brown. He means that there is more extract in it and less 
alcohol. 

The Chairman (to Mr. Brown). That is substantially what you have 
said that fresh beer is — more of the malt extract and less alcohol — 
and that aging beer or storing beer increases the alcohol and decreases 
the amount of malt extract. 

Mr. Brow^n. Yes. 

The Chairman (to Mr. Bauer). Does the law over in Germany, 
according to your recollection, require the keeping of beer any length 
of time before it is sold. 

Mr. Bauer. No ; the laws do not — not to my knowledge. I think 
there is more young beer sold over there than in this country. 

The Chairman. How long is it since you were there? 

Mr. Bauer. I was not there since I left the old country. 

The Chairman. How long ago is that? 

Mr. Bauer. Thirty years ago. 

The Chairman. There may be a difference now? 

Mr. Bauer. There may be. 

Mr. HUPFEL. For export beer they age the beer more. For present- 
use beer — for use in the neighborhood — they drink that as soon as it 
is ripe. 

Mr. LiPPE. That question as to age of beer reminds me of a ques- 
tion that I should like to ask this gentleman : What storage time 
would be best for American beers — how long a time would it be best to 
have the beer stored? 

The Chairman. I think he has already answered that. He says 
that the fresher the beer is, the lees alcohol there is and the more malt 
extract there is. 

Mr. LiPPE. True, but he has not given any length of time at all. 
I would like, in view of future action that Congress might take, to have 
an expression of opinion from competent men as to what would be 
the best time for beer to be stored. 

The Chairman. The chairman will adopt that question. How long 
would be the best time to have beer stored? 

Mr. Bauer. In my practical view it should not be stored over three 
months, but sometimes the brewer can not help it and it gets a little 
older. But I think a glass of beer is best when stored about three 
months, whether for export or for any use. 

The Chairman. If beer is kept in cold storage there is not the same 
danger of fermentation, is there — if it is kept in a steady, cold atmos- 
phere? 

Mr. Bauer. No, there is no danger; but it does not get any better. 

The Chairman. And the tendency is to increase in alcohol and 
decrease in malt extract? 

Mr. Bauer. That is it. 

The Chairman. And the malt extract Itself becomes alcohol by age? 

Mr. Hupfel. I should like to ask Mr. Bauer whether he does not 
think that beer six weeks old is just as good as a three-months-old 
beer? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 393 

Mr. Bauer. I guess that is all right. You can use for home trade 
a beer just as good in six weeks as in three months, for home con- 
sumption. 

Mr. HUPFEL. I thought he said three months or over. 

The Chairman, lie did not say that. He said he thought it ought 
not to be kept over three months. 

Mr. Clarkson. I would like the Senator to ask Mr. Bauer if there 
is any advantage in keeping beer after it is fully ripe — if it is ripe in 
six weeks, whether it improves in any way as a beverage after that? 

The Chairman. This gentleman (Mr. Bauer) has given his opinion 
that it does not improve; that after it matures age does not then 
improve it. 

Mr. HuPFEL. Like ale, it gets harder. 

The Chairman (to Mr. Lippe). I wanted to ask you, Mr. Lippe, 
and do not remember whether I did or not, your idea as to whether 
we ought not to have a national law in regard to beers, and what 
kind of law you would favor. 

Mr. Lippe. I stated, Mr. Chairman, that we should work for a law 
that could absolutely not be evaded. It is of the very essence of the 
thing that the law should not be and could not be evaded. 

The Chairman. That is certainly the essence of all law. 

Mr, Lippe. That law should make it compulsory to brew beer out of 
grain and hops only. It should be a law capable of absolute enforce- 
ment and that could not be evaded. I think such a law would be a 
benefit to the trade and to the consumer, and would build up a great 
trade, provided the Government would enable us to buy the best 
materials. Congress in its wisdom prevents us from using Canada 
malt, the best material for making beer. That policy has destroyed 
the malting industry in the East and has not made the beer any better. 
It has forced the brewers practically to use a lower grade of barley 
and to use rice and hominy in order to get the same result that we 
used to get formerly from the best Canadian barley. The tariff duty 
became so high that it absolutely prevented the importation of Cana- 
dian barley except in nominal amounts. That is one of the things 
from which the brewing industry has suffered. Neither has it bene- 
fited the American farmer to any extent. He does not receive any 
more for his goods than he would if Canadian barley were admitted. 

The Chairman. If you brew out of American cereals, you have to 
pay the American farmers' price. 

Mr. Lippe. Yes, certainly. The opinion seems to be that if Cana- 
dian barley is excluded from the American market the American 
farmers will get a higher price for their goods. The reverse has been 
the truth. It has been a lower price ever since. 

The Chairman. That is entering upon a tariff discussion, and we 
shall have to discuss that in some other department of the case. 

Mr. Brown. Canada raises only a few million bushels of barley, 
and we use between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000 bushels. 

Mr. Lippe. But you can not deny that Canadian barley is better 
than any barley that we can buy. 

Mr. Brown. I most emphatically do deny it. We grow just as 
good barley in this country as in any country in the world. 

Mr. Joseph Liebmann. With reference to this question that has 
sprung uj) here in regard to the difference in barley produced in 
this countrj^ and in Canada, I will say that at the time when that 
tariff law was first put in force certainly our barley grown here in 
the United States was inferior to the Canadian barley, but on account 



394 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

of the demand our farmers are producing just as good barley to-day 
as we had twenty or even ten years ago. The same is true of our hop 
growers in this State. The hops grown in New York State in the last 
six or eight years are much better than they were ten or fifteen j^ears 
ago. 

"As to the question raised here regarding the difference between the 
beer brewed in other countries and beer brewed in this country, I only 
speak as to the beer brewed in Germany and in the United States. 

I will say in advance that I was born a brewer and have been in 
the business for forty-two years, particularly in Germany and in this 
country. 

The difference between brewing in Germany and in the United 
States is much affected by the conditions of the atmosphere of the 
two countries. The atmosphere in Germany is of such a nature that 
when you expose anything that has to undergo certain fermentation 
it will keep longer than if you produce the same here. 

The Chairman. It takes longer to ferment in the German air? 

Mr. LiEBMANN. It takes longer, and there is less influence exerted 
by the outside atmosphere, for the reason that beer brewed in Ger- 
many keeps the taste much better than beer brewed here. 

The Chairman. It is longer in maturing? 

Mr. LiEBMANN. Yes. That is the reason we have to brew different 
beer in this country from that brewed in Germany. 

Mr. Brow^n. That point made by Mr. Liebmann is practically covered 
by my remarks as to the peculiar bacteria of any particular neighbor- 
hood. 

The Chairman. Yes; it is exactly in line with what you suggested. 
He says that the fermentation there is longer and that it takes longer 
to mature the beer, and that it retains its taste longer. 

Mr. LiEBMANN. That is the very reason that the beer here is dif- 
ferent in taste from the German beer. 

In regard to the goodness of the beer and the purity of the beer, I 
guess our beer here is just as pure and just as good as any beer 
brewed in any other country in the world. 

The Chairman. You do not use anything, Mr. Liebmann, so far as 
you know, that is injurious to the public health? 

Mr. LiEBMANN. I do not want to intrude any point or suggestion 
into this investigation, but I will say that for ten or twelve years I 
have advocated only the use of malt and hops. 

The Chairman. As a matter of fact, the use of unmalted cereals is 
very common in this country, is it? 

Mr. Liebmann. It is common, yes, and the taste of our consumers 
favors this rank beer better, which has some raw fruit mixed with it. 

Mr. Brown. Ask Mr. Liebmann, Mr. Chairman, if it is not a fact 
that the great increase in the production of beer in this country was 
not until the introduction of rice or corn into beer here and after 
they had stopped using malt. Ask him if the trade did not then 
jump up. 

Mr. Liebmann. The gentleman has asked a question that can not 
be answered very quickly. In regard to the increase of consumption 
of beer, I would remark that there has been a great increase in the 
population. The consumers of beer haye increased in number. In 
1854, 1855, and 1856, when I was sitting on a beer wagon — a wagon of 
a "single horse — people were standing on the corners saying, "Here 
comes the Dutchman with lager beer and sauerkraut." At that time 
we had to educate the people of this country to drink beer. We do 
not have to do that now. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 395 

The Chairman. The population has increased. The question of 
Mr. Brown was whether this enormous increase of beer has not taken 
place largely since it has been changed in character by the use of 
unmalted cereals. 

Mr. LiEBMANN. The large increase of the production of beer was 
after our civil war, after 1867. It has steadily increased. Is not that 
so, Mr. Hupfel? 

Mr. Hupfel, Yes; it has dropped again within the last few years. 

Mr. Brown. The great increase did not come until about 1879 or 
1880, somewhere along there. 

The Chairman (to Mr. Bauer). Do you advocate the use of anti- 
septics or preservatives in beer at all? 

Mr. Bauer. It is not intended, except for export. 

The Chairman. Do you think that people who import beer into this 
country use it? 

Mr. Bauer. I could not tell. lam not acquainted enough with that 
subject to say that. 

The Chairman. Can they keep it in any other way except by pas- 
teurizing it? 

Mr. Bauer. I recollect asking at one time why they washed the 
inside of the barrel with alcohol, and the answer was to keep the beer 
better in different countries. That was what I was told. 

The Chairman. Do you ever use salicylic acid? 

Mr. Bauer. No; we do not. 

The Chairman. Do you know anything about the use of salicylic 
acid in the preservation of beer? 

Mr. Bauer. I know it is used. 

The Chairman. Is it not used in bottled beer? 

Mr. Bauer. It is used in bottled beers for export. 

Mr. Hupfel. I would like you to ask Mr. Liebmann, Mr. Chairman, 
as an advocate of malt and hops alone, if he can tell the difference 
between beer made from those and that made from cereals — whether 
anyone can tell what it is made of. 

Mr. Liebmann. It would be a hard thing to tell whether beer is made 
particularly of corn or rice. It might be detected when rice is used, 
but I doubt if it could be detected when corn is used. I am not a 
practical brew-master any more. I was so twenty years ago. 

Mr. Hupfel. I have tried it in my brewery, and have made beer of 
rice and corn, and rice and grits, and rice and glucose; have kept it 
different lengths of time, and found that there was not anybody who 
could say which was which out of the four different kinds. It was 
impossible to say of what either of the beers was brewed. 

Mr. Brown. Will you please ask Mr. Liebmann, Mr. Chairman, if a 
beer brewed partially from either rice or corn and the balance of malt 
is not a beer of better keeping quality than one brewed altogether from 
malt? 

The Chairman. You have heard that question, Mr. Liebmann. Will 
you kindly answer it? 

Mr. Liebmann. I would not care to give an opinion on that. 

The Chairman. You would not care to say whether the one was a 
better " keeper" than the other? 

Mr. Liebmann. No; in my brewery we have different beers brewed, 
and I could not tell as to others. 

Mr. Brown. The difficulty with an all-malt beer is that it contains 
an excess of albuminoids, and they are the brewer's bane — anything 
over what is required for the treatment of the yeast. After that it is 



396 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

simply an element of souring in the beer. Rice and corn contain prac- 
tically no albuminoids. 

The Chairman. The albuminoids are what? 

Mr. Brown. They are the vegetable albumen of the grain. That 
is similar to the animal albumen — the albumen of the egg, except 
that it is a vegetable albumen — so that really an all-malt beer has 
less keeping quality than beer brewed partly from malt and any other 
cereal, such as rice. An excess of albuminoids is a damage to the 
beer. 

The Chairman. To-day they use more or less of salicylic acid and 
some combination of lime? 

Mr. Brown. They use bisulphite of lime very largely in England. 
I do not think it is very much used here. 

The Chairman. That is for the beer that they are to export? 

Mr. Brown. Yes, and for washing the utensils. After the vats are 
washed out they spray on them a solution of bisulphite of lime. 

The committee adjourned to Wednesday, November 15, 1899, at 
10.30 a. m. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S, Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Wednesday, November 15, 1899. 



TESTIMONY OF GEORGE B. SADLER. 

George B. Sadler sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Sadler. I am editor of Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular. 

The Chairman. This committee is investigating the question of 
food adulterations, which means, of course, food and drink. We are 
endeavoring to ascertain what we can regarding, first, adulterations 
that are deleterious to health, and, second, adulterations that are 
mere sophistications and are sold in fraud of the consumer. In other 
words, we are endeavoring to ascertain what goods are sold not for 
what they are and what goods are sold that are bad in themselves. 
In connection with your business, Mr. Sadler, have you had occasion 
to look up the sophistication of goods in the wine and spirit business? 

Mr. Sadler. Yes; I have been for many years deeply interested in 
the subject, and have investigated it very thoroughly. 

The Chairman. Will you state to the committee to what extent, as 
far as your knowledge and information goes, these adulterations and 
sophistications exist? 

Mr. Sadler. As to the leading brands of imported spirits, particu- 
larly since the rate of duty is very high, I am thoroughly impressed 
that there is more spurious spirits sold in this country under counter- 
feit labels than there is of the genuine. Investigations made by me 
have led me to believe that that is no exaggeration.- 

The Chairman. How do they do it? 

Mr. Sadler. They do it by obtaining, I think, illicit spirits, from 

•which the United States Government receives no tax. That material 

is put in bottles under counterfeit labels, either labels that are coun- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODFCTS. 397 

terfeited so that they are facsimiles or so that they will deceive the 
unwarj^ buyer. 

The Chairman. Have you any samples of such labels? 

Mr. Sadler. I have a great many. 

The Chairman. You are now alluding- to imported goods? 

Mr. Sadler, Yes. 

The Chairman. For instance, imported Scotch whiskies? 

Mr. Sadler. Yes. 

The Chairman. And imported wines? 

Mr. Sadler. Yes. 

The Chairman. And imported brandies? 

Mr. Sadler. Yes, as to those that have established a reputation. 

The Chairman. Do they use the same bottles? 

Mr. Sadler. Sometimes they refill the bottles. That is very 
extensively done in the saloons themselves, where wines and spirits 
are sold by the drink. The fact is that there are comparatively few 
places in this country that do not do it. 

The Chairman. The retailer may be able to do that because there 
would be no way to watch him? 

Mr. Sadler. I say that where the liquor is sold by the drink over 
the bars the bottles are refilled. 

The Chairman. You say that this is done to quite an extent at 
wholesale, too? 

Mr. Sadler. At wholesale, where sold in the bottles. The cases 
and everything are made to simulate the imported goods. But that 
is not confined to imported goods, but to any brand of goods. The 
moment it establishes a reputation it is at once a fair field for that 
sort of thing. 

The Chairman. Does not the copyright law protect the owner of the 
brand? 

Mr. Sadler. It does not, at all. 

The Chairman. What suggestion would you make to this committee 
by way of securing a remedy for that? 

Mr. Sadler. I would recommend that a bill be passed to amend 
section 3449 similar to the measure that passed the House and Senate 
on the last day of the session of 1896 — resolution 4580 — which provides 
for an amendment to section 3449 of the Revised Statutes. It amends, 
or should amend, the Revised Statutes so that any person who sells, or 
keeps on hand for sale, foreign or domestic wines or liquors under any 
name other than the proper name or brand known to the trade shall 
be subject to fine and imprisonment. 

The Chairman. The word "and" quoted there ought to be the 
word " or." That matter should be left to the discretion of the court, 
and perhaps that is the reason why the President gave it the ' ' pocket 
veto." 

Mr. T. J. Murray. Ask the gentleman how much the Government 
is being yearly robbed out of in the way of revenue through the instru- 
mentality of these imitations — the imitating of imported brands by 
artificial and surreptitious means. 

The Chairman. Have you any knowledge on that subject or any 
opinion? 

Mr. Sadler. I have an opinion. Of course, there must be a good 
deal of guesswork about a matter of this kind, but there is no doubt 
that the Government yearly loses millions of dollars by this particu- 
lar thing. I do not think it is at all an exaggeration to say that it 
must be $6,000,000 just upon imported goods alone. 



398 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PKODUOTS. 

The Chairman. That, I understand, is on the theory that the tax 
is not paid; that the goods that are sold as imported goods, if they 
were imported goods and paid the duty, that duty would make a dif- 
ference of several millions, possibly six millions, in the revenue of 
the Government? 

Mr. Sadler. In some cases the United States Government receives 
no revenue at all from the spirits that are made. A very large quan- 
tity of illicit sijirits are made that go directly into the bottle, and the 
very moment that it goes into the bottle it loses its identity so far as 
the Government is concerned, and it can be sold with freedom. The 
Government derives no benefit at all and no revenue from spirits of 
that description. 

The Chairman. They would have to make it, then, from illicit spirits, 
or from "moonshine whisky," as it is called? 

Mr. Sadler. They do it to a very large extent. That gives them 
an opening for the distribution of that sort of spirits. Of course there 
is a good deal of tax-paid spirits that go into the imported goods, the 
Government, therefore, losing the difference between the import duty 
and the internal-revenue tax — something, I believe, like 11.40 a gallon 
for spirits. 

Mr. Murray. I think the witness refers simply to the loss to the 
Government on spirits alone. Would you kindly ask him, Mr. Chair- 
man, what he believes our Government loses on malt liquors? 

The Chairman. Have you given the subject of malt liquors any 
attention? 

Mr. Sadler. Not so much. I know that a number of the brands 
of imported beers are very largely counterfeited in this country, but 
to what extent I do not know. 

The Chairman. Have you any samples of the labels that are coun- 
terfeited on beers or malt liquors? 

Mr. Sadler. I am not sure whether I have or not, but I am in a 
position where I can obtain labels of the counterfeited kind. 

The Chairman. I wish, for the benefit of the committee, that you 
would be good enough to send me some, and I will see that they are 
returned to you — some samples of the counterfeit labels that are used 
in this country, to make the purchaser think that he is buying 
imported goods. 

Mr. Sadler. I will do so. I have a large book of these labels, and if 
I may bring it up to the committee and show you what they are, I 
shall be glad to do so. It is quite a valuable possession, however, and 
I should like to bring it up myself. 

The Chairman. Very well. I will see that it is properly cared for 
while in my possession, and I merely wish to look at the labels. I can 
then explain to the committee what the facts are from my own obser- 
vation. You understand that this is done by the rectifiers in this 
country? 

Mr. Sadler. Some of them ; yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You do not know where the spurious spirits come 
from? 

Mr. Sadler. No. In some cases I do. I know some of the houses 
that make them. Some of them are notorious in the trade. There 
have been all kinds of injunctions requested, and our laws render no 
kind of redress — either State or national. 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD FKODUCTS. 'd'di) 



TESTIMONY OF HEYWOOD C. BROUN. 

Heywood C. Broun, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your business, please? 

Mr. Broun. I am a bottler of Bass's ale and Guinness s stout. 

The Chairman. Where do you bottle it? 

Mr. Broun. In Sixteenth street. New York. 

The Chairman. Where is it manufactured? 

Mr. Broun. The ale is manufactured at Burton-on-Trent, in Eng- 
land. 

The Chairman. And shipped to this country how? 

Mr. Broun. In hogsheads of 62 gallons each. 

The Chairman. You have heard the testimony of the last witness 
who was before the committee, the editor of Bonfort's Wine and 
Spirit Circular, who spoke in regard to imitated labels? 

Mr. Broun. Yes. 

The Chairman. This committee is inquiring regarding goods sold 
to the people that are either deleterious to health or sold in fraud of 
the consumer. I should like to know if you have any evidence to 
offer to the committee showing that goods are improperly marked? 

Mr. Broun. We have had in the country in the past five years 35 
to 40 cases of forgeries and colorable imitations of our labels. In 
almost all the cases the ale was American ale. The labels are perfect 
facsimiles of ours; in some cases made from photographs. We have, 
of course, jjrosecuted some cases and obtained some convictions — in 
Boston two convictions of parties putting up this ale for forgeries of 
these labels of ours. One of the parties convicted was sent to prison 
for six months. 

The Chairman. That was done under a State law? 

Mr. Broun. Yes; and we could have had the same convictions in 
the United States courts. We have taken a number of infringements 
of our trade-marks into the United States courts, and we have never 
had any trouble in getting convictions, but there has been a good 
deal of trouble in getting evidence. The reason why the Government 
loses is that foreign ale pays a duty of |H a barrel, while domestic ale 
pays an internal-revenue tax of only $2 a barrel — $12 a hogshead and 
%2 a barrel. So when they put up counterfeits of our labels thej^ sell 
American ale, and the Government loses the difference, certainly. 

We had some goods seized by the United States Government for 
being carried in jtackages that were not the original packages, or the 
marks that they should bear. They were counterfeits of our labels. 
The Government seized the goods, and they were ordered to be sold at 
public auction, and they were sold at public auction. So that we were 
doubly injured, inasmuch as the men who bought them had bought 
them from the United States Government. 

The Chairman. So that you could not stop the sale or the consump- 
tion? 

Mr. Broun. No. We protested very vigorously to the United States 
authorities against selling these goods, but they sold them in spite of 
our protests. We placed the matter in the hands of our attornej^ Mr. 
Delancey Nicoll, but he was unable to do anything about it. They 
were sold in the market. 

The Chairman. Do I understand you to say that there is any United 
States law now under which you could arrest and punish people, or 
was it a State law? 



400 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Mr, Broun. It was under a State law; but I think we could have 
done it in the United States courts and under the United States law. 
It was a counterfeiting case. The imitation of our signature is a 
forgery. 

The Chairman. Have you had your attention called to the bill 
mentioned by the previous witness? 

Mr. Broun. Yes. 

The Chairman. That is intended to apply directly to cases of this 
kind? 

Mr. Broun. Yes. A recent law was passed by the State of Massa- 
chusetts similar to that, but I think a fuller law than that. I can 
send you a copy of that bill. 

The Chairman. I should be glad to have it. You do not manufac- 
ture the ale yourself here? 

Mr. Broun. No. 

The Chairman. And you could not testify, I suppose, as to its 
ingredients? 

Mr. Broun. No ; I could not ; but a member of our firm is here who 
is a chemist, and he could testify to it. You have had samples of 
our ale, and I have been subpoenaed to appear. 

The Chairman. Yes; I have taken samples of practically every- 
thing I could get, and they are now in the hands of the Government 
chemists of the Agricultural Department. 

Mr. Broun. Of course we suffer greatly, also, from the refilling of 
bottles. People buy our bottles and refill them, but it is hard to get 
testimony against them. 

TESTIMONY OF FRANCIS WYATT. 

Francis Wyatt, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. Where do you reside? 

Mr. Wyatt. In New York City. 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Mr. Wyatt. I am a brewers' chemist. 

The Chairman. What training have you had in the n^atter of your 
profession? Just state briefly. 

Mr. Wyatt. I have been practicing for the last eighteen years as a 
chemist and bacteriologist, devoting myself professionally exclusively 
to the interests of fermentation, the manufacture of beer and of 
whisky. 

The Chairman. Were j^ou present when I explained to the other 
gentlemen the scope of this investigation? 

Mr. Wyatt. I do not know that I was. 

The Chairman. The Senate Committee on Manufactures are inquir- 
ing, under the authority of the Senate of the United States, with refer- 
ence to two features of fact regarding food and drink: First, as to 
what, if any, adulterations are resorted to that may be considered 
deleterious to public health, and secondly, what adulterations are 
resorted to that are simply to sophisticate or cheapen the goods and 
deceive the consumer. 

With regard to the first branch of the case — namely, adulterations 
that are deleterious to public health — let me ask you what is generally 
used in the manufacture of beer? You might, perhaps, state first 
what you call beer. 

Mr. Wyatt. I suppose your attention has been called, Mr. Chair- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 401 

man, to the fact that there is no law — there is nothing on the statutes, 
either national or State, to define beer. 

The Chairman. I know that. 

Mr, Wyatt. I have on various occasions suggested that a proper 
definition of beer would be "a nutritive infusion of maltose sirup, 
made bitter with hops and fermented with yeast." I have submitted 
that definition, because that is what the beer of this country really is 
to-day, and that is why I am able to say without fear of contradiction 
from people who know anything about the industry that there is prac- 
tically no adulteration whatever practiced in the brewing of beer in 
the United States. The old German method of manufacturing beer 
was simply to make an infusion of malt, boil that infusion with hops, 
and ferment it with yeast. But the beers which were produced at that 
time could only be made salable on the condition of keeping them 
for a very long period of time in cold storage. That brought about 
two things. In the first place, it produced a large amount of alcohol 
from the complete fermentation not only of the maltose present, but 
of various other complex sugars, which only ferment during a very 
long storage period. That also brought about an acidity or hardness 
in the beer. 

It is very possible that at the time that those beers were made they 
suited the public taste and were probably suited to the climatic con- 
ditions of Germany, but when those beers were introduced into this 
country and made in that way, as they were made originally some 
twenty-five or thirty years ago, they did not suit the climatic condi- 
tions of the United States, nor did they suit the palates of the Amer- 
ican consumers. It was desirable to make a lighter beer, and by that 
I mean a beer which contains less alcohol; and it was also desirable 
to make a beer which should please the aesthetic as well as the epicurean 
sense. 

In other words, the American looks at his beer generally before 
drinking it, and invariably drinks it out of a glass. The German beer 
drinker drinks his beer out of a mug, and it does not make any differ- 
ence to him what it looks like so long as it suits his palate. It is a 
very diflicult matter to make brilliant beer from the malts made in this 
country, because our malts are not comparable in any way to the malts 
made abroad from barleys grown in the chalky, light, calcareous soil 
of Germanj^ and England. 

Our American malts contain very much more of what is technically 
known as albuminous matter, proteid matter, most of which becomes 
soluble during the malting process and passes into the beer. 

Now, it is that albuminous matter which has a tendency to make the 
beer unstable, because it affords nourishment not only for the yeast 
but also for the various organisms which are always swarming in the 
air and which get into the beer under almost all conditions and are the 
cause of cloudiness and acidity and bad taste. 

All these considerations led to investigations which have now become 
classical — investigations by a great many scientists. During the 
malting or mashing process a thing is produced known as diastase. 
This diastase has the power, under the influence of moisture, of trans- 
forming starch into maltose sugar. Now, there is a large excess of 
diastase in malt; and it was argued that inasmuch as the largest per- 
centage of diastase is starch, and since there is more diastase present 
in the malt than is necessary to transform that starch into sugar, why 
not at once utilize the diastase by using starch, and in that way 
diminish the percentage of albuminoids? 
FP 26 



402 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

After many experiments that was eventually done ; and it has now 
become, I think, the universal practice throughout the United States 
to add a large or a small quantity (according to the condition of the 
malt of the season) of extraneous starch. 

The problem arose. What is the more economical form of starch to 
use? If we go to the starch manufacturer, we have to pay him a profit 
on the manufacturing process. Why not take his raw product, corn 
or rice, and manufacture our maltose directly in the brewery, without 
going through all the inconvenient processes of manufacturing the 
starch from the raw grain? 

That is as brief a statement as I can make to lead up to the main 
statement that brewers now use, in addition to malt, various percent- 
ages, say from 20 to 35 per cent, of starch-bearing cereals, notably 
rice and corn ; sometimes a little raw barley is used, but from the 
brewer's standpoint it is mainly a question of current market price; 
that is what influences the brewer in the starch-bearing material that3 
he buys. 

Some chemists and some very excellent brewers have argued that 
in order to prepare this maltose from the raw cereal in the brewery a 
great deal of unnecessary time was consumed and that it would 
answer every purpose to buy a sirup, which, to all intents and pur- 
poses, would be the same article as they themselves made in the mash 
tub. This article is glucose, which, as you probably know, is made 
from Indian maize, by boiling it with a very small quantity of acid, 
subsequently neutralizing that acid with marble dust, and getting it 
down to the desired consistency. 

The Chairman. Is that grape sugar or is it glucose? 

Mr. Wyatt. They are both practically grape sugar, but in order to 
distinguish between them there are two forms in which it is sold. One 
is a hard, amorphous mass known as grape sugar, verj^ much resem- 
bling ordinary sugar in everything but its crystalline shape. They 
are practically identical — that is to say, the method of their manu- 
facture is practically the same, one, however, being more evaporated 
than;,the other. 

The Chairman. You consider, do you, that the use of these starch- 
bearing cereals leaves the beer just as healthy and as nutritious and 
as desirable for the stomach as if it were all malt? 

Mr, Wyatt. Absolutely so. And it may, perhaps, add something 
to the importance of that statement if I say that it is impossible by 
any means known to chemistry or physics to distinguish between a 
beer made from all malt and a beer made from the addition of any of 
the substitutes which I have named. 

The Chairman. And is it difficult even in chemical analysis to find 
that difference? 

Mr. Wyatt. I mean to say that it is impossible by chemical analysis 
to find that difference. 

The Chairman. And impossible also to find it in the taste or flavor? 

Mr. Wyatt. Impossible in the taste or flavor. So far as the addi- 
tion of those substitutes is concerned, it would be impossible to de- 
tect any difference in taste or flavor, because very nearly all the 
characteristic flavors of beer are derived from fermentation — from 
the nature of the yeast used in fermenting. 

The Chairman. The principal other ingredient of beer, next to 
malt, is hops? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes, 

The Chairman. Do you know, and is it customary, within your 
observation and experience, to use any substitute for hops? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 403 

Ml*. Wyatt. I have never, throughout my whole experience in this 
country, met with a single instance in which a substitute for hops 
was used. 

The Chairman. Hop extract, I suppose, you consider hops? 

Mr. Wyatt. I do not include that, because there is only one brand 
of hop extract sold in this country, and that is a petroleum-ether 
extract of hops. 

The Chairman. The extract really carries all the hops wanted? 

Mr. Wyatt. All the essential elements of the hops in small bulk. 
But it is proper to say that that hop extract is used to a very limited 
extent. Brewers have got into the habit of watching the hop market ; 
and if hops are extremely cheap during one season, they buy large 
quantities and send them up to the hop-extract man, and he extracts 
them and sends them back the product. 

The Chairman. In that process and in the use of hop extract instead 
of hops is there anything, in your opinion, that could in any way 
affect the public health? 

Mr. Wyatt. Absolutely not. 

The Chairman. It is just as wholesome and good as the hops? 

Mr. Wyatt. Absolutely in every respect. 

The Chairman. Do you know of any habit or practice among any 
of the brewers of using an absolute substitute for hops? 

Mr. Wyatt. I have never heard of or met with one. 

The Chairman. It has been sometimes charged or stated that aloes 
was used in beer? 

Mr. Wyatt. I have seen such statements in the newspapers, but I 
have never come across such a thing myself. 

The Chairman. What could aloes be used to take the place of in 
beer? 

Mr. Wyatt. It could only be used to communicate a bitter taste. 
But aloes are, I believe, chiefly used in medicine as a drastic purga- 
tive, and it would be a very undesirable addition to be made to beer. 

The Chairman. How long have you been acting as chemist here in 
this country in connection with the brewing industries? 

Mr. Wyatt. Exactly thirteen years. 

The Chairman. And before that time? 

Mr. Wyatt. Before that time I was with Pasteur, in Paris. 

The Chairman. During the thirteen years have you had occasion 
to analyze different samples of beer? 

Mr. Wyatt. I have analyzed 20,000 samples of beer during that 
period. 

The Chairman. Have you ever found any aloes in any that you 
have analyzed? 

Mr. Wyatt. Never. 

The Chairman. Your analysis has been such that you would have 
discovered it if there were any? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; absolutely. 

The Chairman. Upon the question of fermentation, about which 
we have had some evidence, and which is not new to me, I wish you 
would describe as briefly as you can the process of fermentation used 
generally here in this country from the beginning, the making of the 
yeast — how it is started at work and how it continues. 

Mr. Wyatt. Perhaps it would be better for me to say that the beer, 
after being boiled in the kettle, and having been brought to the 
required gravity or strength, is sent, over a cooler, into a large 
receiving vat and there mixed with yeast. Now, this yeast is a plant, 



404 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

a fungous growth, whicli becomes acclimated to each brewery and 
goes on from year's end to year's end, year in and year out, without 
any change at all. In other words, just as we sow potatoes and get a 
proper potato crop, so we plant yeast and get a proper yeast crop. If 
we use 100 pounds of yeast, we expect to get 500 pounds as a crop. 

The Chairman. A crop of what? 

Mr. Wyatt. a crop of yeast — yeast is a plant which grows as grass 
grows, and just as we get 14 bushels to 1 from wheat, so we expect 
to get four or five pounds to one from yeast that we put in the beer. 
That yeast either rises to the top of the fluid, in fermentation, or it 
sinks to the bottom. In the manufacture of ale it comes to the top, 
because the temperature used in the fermentation of ale forces the 
yeast to the top, whereas in the fermentation of lager the lower tem- 
perature allows the yeast to settle to the bottom. I am, of course, 
using popular terms. 

The Chairman. We wish you to do that, so that we may under- 
stand it. 

Mr. Wyatt. Now, the true beer yeast will work under certain con- 
ditions of temperature while there is any free sugar — while there is 
any maltose sugar or grape sugar present in the wort with which the 
yeast is mixed, and it will cease directly that the fermentable sugar 
has disappeared. It breaks down or transforms, just as diastase 
does, and in the same way. Diastase acts on starch and transforms 
it into sugar. Yeast, one of its functional products, acts on sugar, 
decomposes it into practicably equal parts of carbonic-acid gas and 
alcohol. The carbonic-acid gas goes off; the alcohol, or the main 
portion of it, remains in the beer. 

Science to-day has made so much progress that really scientific 
brewers — of course, there are few of them, but those that are not scien- 
tific themselves can get the aid of scientists to assist them, and gen- 
erally do — science, as I say, has made so much advance to-day that it 
can predict with absolute certainty what kind of beer can be pro- 
duced from any certain mashing process. So that if a brewer wants 
a beer of 3 per cent of alcohol, he can prepare his mash in such a way 
as to insure that when that is down to the required temperature and 
mixed with j'-east, providing no foreign element is present; providing 
he is using a pure culture of yeast, that yeast will ferment the sugar 
present and produce 3 per cent of alcohol. 

Therefore it would be perfectly feasible to make a law regulating 
the degree of fermentation. Perhaps I am anticipating myself. I 
will come back to that. 

When the yeast has finished its work in the fermenting room proper, 
which takes about ten to thirteen days, it is allowed to settle to 
the bottom, and, when it has subsided, the thoroughly fermented 
beer, which now has been denuded to about 55 per cent of its original 
gravity — if it originally weighed 12, for example, it now weighs prob- 
ably 5 or 5i on the calorimeter, which is put into the beer by the 
brewer, its temperature being reduced at this time. 

As soon as the fermentation is ended, the aim of the brewer is to 
reduce the temperature to a point at which bacteria or foreign organ- 
isms will not work. The beer is then sent to the storage cellar, which 
is a room generally kept at a temperature of 33° or 34° F., and the 
beer is allowed to remain in that cellar until it is practically brilliant — 
until all the yeast has deposited — until all the albuminoids have been 
deposited. 

Then at the end of about six weeks, which makes about two months 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 405 

that the fermentation continues, the beer is brought into what is 
known as the chip-cask cellar, and it goes into the chip casks. There 
it is treated with a small quantity of fresh beer. In order to impreg- 
nate it with carbonic acid gas it is generally bound under sufficient 
pressure to give about G^ or 7 pounds, or one-half an atmosphere, 
because, of course, the carbonic-acid gas is absorbed in direct propor- 
tion to the temperature of the pressure, and it has been found from 
general practice that about a half of an atmosphere is sufficient pres- 
sure with which to saturate the beer with gas. 

The Chairman. About half an atmosphere? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; about 7 to 7^ pounds. Then, when the beer is 
perfectly brilliant — when the fresh beer that has been added to the 
old beer has completely fermented itself out and no further evidence 
of cloudiness appears — it is passed through a filter into the trade 
package and sent out to the trade, the whole process occupying now 
about two and a half to three months. 

That, I should say, is the process carried on by 95 per cent of the 
brewers of the United States. 

There are some brewers who have been lately considering what 
science has been trying to imjDress upon them for a long time — the 
fact that when the beer has been thoroughly fermented down to the 
desired point in the fermenting room, longer storage becomes super- 
fluous. It has been proved to a demonstration that no further fer- 
mentation takes place in the storage cellar and that the only thing 
that does take place is a deposition of yeast and other suspended 
matters in the beer and reduction to a cold temperature. 

Now, modern mechanical appliances have enabled us to reduce the 
temperature of the beer immediately after its fermentation to any 
desired point. The ice machine has done that for us, and we can by 
filtration eliminate all the impurities, and so some Europeans have 
adopted systems of fermentation and of elimination which enable 
them to put their beer on the market in a very much less period of 
time — less than three months. 

It is impossible to distinguish by any means that science has placed 
at our disposal between the beers produced in this way and other 
beers. But a popular cry has been raised, based upon prejudice, I 
think, principally against putting upon the market an "immature" 
beer. 

It has been my object for a great many years to find out what is 
meant by the term "immature beer," and I am extremely anxious 
that in anj^ legislation that is decided upon in this matter some pro- 
vision should be made with regard to the degree to which a beer 
should be fermented, because a mature beer can be nothing else than 
a properly fermented beer — a beer which will not rapidly undergo 
decomposition when taken from a warmer temperature and put into 
a colder temperature. Therefore, as I say, the clamor that has been 
raised against these beers of comparatively short duration of fermen- 
tation is undoubtedly based upon prejudice and not upon any facts 
which warrant their being denounced. This is merel}^ an expression 
of my opinion, and without any prejudice one way or the other. 

The Chairman. You are convinced that beer, when thoroughly 
matured — that is, if it is fermented properly — is ready for consump- 
tion at any time after it is matured? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. I think I can make you understand it in this way. 
We can so arrange our mashing process — that is, the preliminary 
preparation of the work which makes the beer — as to have any desired 



406 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

quantity or proportion of fermentable sugar present. We can use a 
yeast which will ferment that sugar and stop its action when so fer- 
mented. That beer is then in the condition that it would be if you 
toolf it away and put it in storage for six months, because no further 
fermentation takes place. 

The Chairman. And the aging of the beer adds nothing to its value 
for consumption? 

Mr. Wyatt. No; for this reason: If it were wine or a stock ale, or 
any beer which could be kept at a very warm temperature, I might be 
disposed to consider the possibility of an oxidation of the alcohol into 
ether, and thereby a considerable gain in flavor and in most of those 
qualities whicli are acceptable to wine drinkers and ale drinkers. But 
in the case of lager beer we transfer the fermented beverage from a 
warm atmosphere to a cold atmosphere, which arrests all possible fur- 
ther chemical change. Now, there are some wild yeasts which are 
very undesirable, but which often get into our beers, which will act at 
very low temperatures, but those are the very things that we want to 
avoid. Therefore, that would be an argument rather against the stor- 
age of beer in a cold temperature for a great length of time. So that 
long storage of beer may be regarded as an exploded fallacy. 

I think there are very few brewers to-day who have not abandoned 
the old-time theory of brewing their beers in winter and selling them 
in summer, and thereby keeping them in storage for eight or nine 
months. Those were the times when the adulterations or sophistica- 
tions of beer probably took place. They were obliged to apply cor- 
rectives in order to destroy the acidity of the beers. 

The Chairman, I think one witness testified before the committee 
that in the long storage of perfectly matured beer the tendency was 
to increase the alcohol and decrease the malt extract. 

Mr. Wyatt. Well, that witness testified according to his light, but 
he was not correct. The constitution of the wort and the nature of 
the yeast employed are the two factors which determine their greater 
alcoholic strength or greater residual extract. The general taste in 
this country, as I stated in mj' opening sentences, is now for beer with 
very little alcohol and very much residual extract. 

The Chairman. And then there is to be taken into account the 
aesthetic consideration — most people like to see their beer light? 

Mr, Wyatt. Yes. 

The Chairman. Upon the question of preservatives or antiseptics — 
speaking now of barreled beer — do you know of any general custom 
in this country of using antiseptics like salicylic acid, or anything of 
that kind, for the purpose of preserving beer, or any other thing used 
for preserving it? 

Mr. Wyatt. Well, there are two very important branches of the 
consumption of malt liquors: One is consumption by what we call 
the draft trade, the other the bottling trade or the bottle trade. 

Now, in my opinion, in fact I may say that, to my knowledge, there is 
practically no antiseptic of any kind used in beers destined for draft 
purposes, excepting where beers are shipped from one end of the con- 
tinent to the other, as they sometimes are, and where they are liable 
to be exposed to severe and sudden changes of temperature. In those 
cases it has been customary, and I have advised brewers to use some 
small proportions of salicylic acid, that being, in my opinion, the least 
harmful of the antiseptics, so far as I know. I am not giving my opin- 
ion as a physiologist; but so far as I have been able to find out, through 
a careful examination of the literature of the subject, I regard sali- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 40*7 

cylic acid as the most harmless of any preservative that can be used. 
Now, the actual amount in which salicylic acid is used may be stated 
broadly at about 1 part in 5,000, which represents a little less than 
half an ounce per barrel of 31^ gallons. That amounts to saying 
about one-quarter of a grain of salicylic acid per glass of beer. 

The Chairman. Your judgment is that it would be one-quarter of 
a grain per glass? 

Mr. Wyatt. It is 1 gram in 5,000 grams of beer, or two-tenths of a 
gram per liter. 

The Chairman. Have you, in the course of your business, had occa- 
sion to analyze imported ales and beers and wines? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. 

The Chairman. Have you found the presence of preservatives 
there? 

Mr. Wyatt. Almost invariably. 

The Chairman. That is just what you would do, I suppose, if you 
were shipping from here to a foreign port? 

Mr. Wyatt. Absolutely. 

The Chairman. What is this preparation of lime that is used? 

Mr. Wyatt. Bisulphite of lime. That is an admirable antiseptic, 
much better than salicylic acid, because it has been definitely shown 
to be without any injurious effect whatever by a long series of experi- 
ments, extending over a long series of years, in England. But the 
objection to the use of bisulphite of lime in our beers is that none of 
our people will drink bisulphite beers. We have tried it. It may be 
owing to some fault in the treatment of our hops, or the manufacture 
of our material, or in the composition of our water supply. Undoubt- 
edly our bisulphite decomposes into sulphureted hydrogen and other 
by-products, and the people do not care to drink sulphureted hydro- 
gen. There used to be a name given to the smell of Bass's ale, of 
Burton-on-Trent. They spoke of it at one time as the "Bass stink." 
People would say, " I do not believe this is Bass's ale; it has not got 
the Bass stink." That "stink" was communicated by the bisulphite 
of lime, which was part of the manufacture. In Allsopp's and all the 
other ales imported I have found sulphurous acid, which leads me to 
believe that bisulphite of lime was used. 

The Chairman. Have you ever found it in such quantities in any 
of the beers that you would consider it deleterious to public health? 

Mr. Wyatt. Never. 

The Chairman. Do you know of any other preservative used? 

Mr. Wyatt. None, save salicylic acid and bisulphite of lime, used 
directly in the beer. I have heard of various antiseptics being pro- 
posed to brewers, and have invariably denounced them both in print 
and orally. .Just now I said that I was absolutely in favor of using 
antiseptics, but I wish to be understood as saying that I only advocate 
the use of antiseptics when it is absolutely necessary for the preser- 
vation of the beer. 

The Chairman. Where it is to be kept for a long time and shipped 
to varying climates? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. I think it is perfectly fair to say that the great 
majority of our breweries never use salicylic acid, never having a 
pound of it in their place — those who do not do a shipping trade. 

The Chairman. The usual manner of preserving beer is by pasteur- 
izing the bottled beer, as it is called? 

Mr. Wyatt. That is the most scientific and philosophical way. 

The Chairman. As well as the most economical? 



408 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Wyatt. Well, hardly economical. I will explain why. 

The Chairman. Owing to the expense of boiling it in the bottle? 

Mr. Wyatt. And the breakage of the bottles. Because all liquors 
expand with heat, and if the bottles are filled too full (and it is desir- 
able to leave as little air as possible in the bottle) the bottles break. 
One cause of beer deteriorating is attributable to the presence of either 
yeast or some other organism capable of fermenting the beer as soon 
as it comes to a proper temperature. If we could devise means of 
preventing that, it would be better; and so we pasteurize it up to a 
certain temperature at which most of the germs are killed. The un- 
fortunate thing, however, is that dealing with practical men it is 
almost impossible to get them to understand that some germs resist 
temperature at 140°. Some beer has to be heated to 150 and some to 
155. The consequence is that in the pasteurizing of beer the aim in 
this country is to keep the pasteurizing down as low as possible, and 
take the minimum of — say 140° Fahrenheit. There are certain germs 
in the beer that are not paralyzed at a heat of 140°, and it is to get at 
those that this minute quantity of salicylic acid is put into the beer. 

The Chairman. How do these germs get in — from the air? 

Mr. Wyatt. They come from the air. 

The Chairman. You did not hear the evidence given here yester- 
day, did you? 

Mr. Wyatt. I was not here yesterday. 

The Chairman, There was some discussion as to the filtering of 
air, or having the fermentation take place in a vacuum. It was said 
that some experiments had taken place in that respect. 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes ; I believe that some very exhaustive experiments 
have been made. All those things are very desirable if we could get 
them on a practical basis, where rough men with heavy fingers could 
handle them. When we get to a point where trained scientists may 
superintend these things, improvements can be and will be made. 
But unless properly attended to they become a curse rather than a 
blessing. 

The Chairman. What is the process of filtering the air for? 

Mr. Wyatt. To draw the air through some substance which will 
offer no resistance to the passage of the air, but will prevent any- 
thing, such as germs or particles of dust, going through. Therefore 
we have selected cotton wool, and we generally mix that with a little 
glycerin to keep it from drying up. 

The Chairman. And you draw the air through that? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. 

The Chairman. In that way you keep away the unhealthy germs? 

Mr. Wyatt. You keep away everything but the yeast itself. But it 
is a very difficult thin§^ to provide against an increase of these multitu- 
dinous armies that are always hovering around, because after every- 
thing is sterilized, and just at the very last moment, at the instant of 
putting the bung into the beer, we expose only a small space and the 
germs get in and undo all the work that we have been trying to 
accomplish. 

The Chairman. There never has been any successful experiments 
in pasteurizing the beer in casks? 

Mr. Wyatt. Never. Much money has been spent, and many ingen- 
ious mechanical devices invented, but the beer has never been made 
satisfactory. It is easy to make it sterile, but we make it flat at the 
same time, and impart a foreign and distasteful odor and taste to it, 
and it is entirely unsatisfactory up to the present time in this country. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 409 

The Chairman. Let me inquire, in case you should use any cereal 
that was infected with disease, whether the process you describe 
would destroy that disease? 

Mr. Wyatt. Certainly. In the first place, the wort resulting from 
the mashing process — that is, the process in which the cereals and 
malt and all are mixed together with water at certain temperatures — 
that wort is boiled for periods varying from two and a half to three 
hours. It is a strongly acid solution, due to the acid phosphates pres- 
ent in the malt. It is also boiled in the presence of hops. I assume, 
Mr. Chairman, that by "diseased" you mean moldy or musty or 
deteriorated material. 

The Chairman. Yes. I suppose it is possible to have diseases, 
such as fevers and things of that sort, that might attack the human 
system, existing in the cereal if it has been improperly handled? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. The same argument exactly will apply to every 
conceivable thing. 

The Chairman. I hand you here what purports to be a standard of 
different beers — lager beer, export beer, bock beer, ale, porter, and 
condensed beer 

Mr. Wyatt. Condensed beer? 

The Chairman. It is called condensed beer in this list. 

Mr. HuPFEL. Malt extract, I suppose, is what is meant. 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; I suppose so. 

The Chairman. That is supposed to be the standard fixed by Dr. 
Gustav Rupp, a German chemist. I will ask you, first, if you do not 
think — I believe you said you do think — there should be some fair 
regulation as to the fermentation that beer should undergo, as to the 
amount of alcohol that it should contain? 

Mr. Wyatt. Not necessarily. I say that the only possible — in my 
opinion, and I have looked at this matter for the last ten years from 
all possible sides that my intelligence would permit — no regulation is 
possible except one that establishes a degree of fermentation, a regu- 
lation which should say that no beer should be sold except, at the 
lowest, a degree of fermentation of 55 per cent, and no ale at less 
than GO or 65 per cent. That is a matter that can be readily arranged 
for. If you say that beer shall be made of a certain specific gravity, 
then you are forcing certain persons to drink beers of a kind different 
from that which they want. But you can say that whatever the gravity 
of the beer, it shall have a certain degree of fermentation. 

The Chairman. I understand that. 

Mr. Wyatt. I want to get over these dilfieult questions of souring 
and maturity and so forth. Let the brewer make beer of any gravity 
he pleases, or any that his customers require, but insist that the beer 
shall have a certain degree of fermentation. 

The Chairman. Let me see if I understand the question. I can 
understand what you mean if you say that each barrel of beer shall 
contain a certain percentage of extract of malt. Would you have 
any regulation of that kind? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; that is practicable — say that every beer shall 
contain 45 per cent of its original gravity in extract. That is the 
same as saj^ing that it shall have fermentation of 55 per cent. 

Mr. HuPFEL. You mean to say. Doctor, that if beer will weigh 15 
percent in "kaiser," then when fermented it should weigh 45 per 
cent of that? 

Mr. Wyatt. No; I do not mean to say its apparent fermentation, but 



410 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

its real fermentation. If we should take its apparent fermentation It 
would come out at about 8 or 9 per cent. I mean its real fermentation. 
In other words, a beer at 15 per cent "Kaiser" will come out at about 
6, which is what it does now— 55 per cent of real fermentation. 

Mr. HuPFEL. Then if you should be brewing beer at 10? 

Mr. Wyatt. It would come out at 2 or 2^. 

Mr. HuPFEL. That would be a "prohibition bill," would it not? 

Mr. Wyatt. That is right. 

I have no objection to this schedule entitled " Chemical combina- 
tion of standard beers." I think, however, it would be as absurd to 
attempt to establish these standards as it would be for the farmer to 
say to his grain when he puts it in the soil, "You shall grow 6 inches 
and no more," because the yeast is what determines the composition 
of the beer, the fermentation. He says here that lager beer shall 
have 3.93 per cent of alcohol. 

The Chairman. Practically 4 per cent. 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; we might have 4.03 or 4.04 or 3.09 and we should 
not be within that standard regulation. 

He says also here that the extract should be 0. 71 of the albuminoids. 
Now, we do not want so much albuminoids as that; ours are 0.04 or 
0.05, because the materials that we use will not give that amount of 
albuminoids; and the brewer who wanted that would be obliged to 
put artificial albuminoids into his stock. With all that, these are 
perfectly fair averages of our own beer to-daj^ and, looking at these 
tables broadly, I should say that they represent tolerably well the 
beers produced in this country. 

Tlie Chairman. Do you know what the German law is, or whether 
there is a fixed standard of beer there? 

Mr. Wyatt. I think not; I do not know of any. I know that the 
Bavarian law was made for fiscal purposes, prohibiting the use of anj^- 
thing but malt and hops. 

The Chairman. Yes, I understand that; because they get their 
revenue on that basis. 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. 

The Chairman. But you do not understand that even in Germany 
where they are particular about that, there is any standard? 

Mr. Wyatt, There are certain standards affecting its sale. 

The Chairman. But is there anything that requires that there shall 
be a certain amount of malt extract, and so forth? 

Mr. Wyatt. No; I have never heard of any. 

The Chairman. Now, in the pursuit of your profession and in the 
course of your experience you have analyzed a good deal of wine, 
have 3'ou not? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; large quantities of wine. 

The Chairman. Did you find some adulterations in them? 

Mr. Wyatt. Lots. 

The Chairman. I wish you would tell the committee briefly, as 
briefly as you may find consistent with its importance, some of the 
adulterations which you found in the wine. 

Mr. Wyatt. The chief adulterations I found in the wine have been 
aniline dyes — adulterations of the red wines. 

The Chairman. The aniline dyes are the product of coal tar? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. They are used for the purpose of given certain 
degrees of color. 

The Chairman. Used for coloring the red wines? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 411 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes. And the other sophistication that I find in red 
wines — for it is a sophistication and not an adulteration — is alcohol; 
they are generallj^ fortified by the addition of alcohol. 

The Chairman. And they can add water? 

Mr. Wyatt. No; it is not necessary. No; I think, on the contrary, 
they put alcohol in in order to act as a preservative. That is to say, 
that a wine which, fermented in the ordinary way, would yield 7 or 
7| per cent of alcohol would have sufficient alcohol added to it to 
bring up the percentage to 10 or 11 per cent, which of course makes 
it a very strong wine. But the most reprehensible practice is the 
addition of the coloring matter, and that is the one which I have 
principally found — coal-tar compositions. 

The Chairman. Are those used for any purpose except to color the 
wine red? 

Mr. Wyatt. Well, they produce various shades of color. There 
are some wines that come from Italy with a bluish-red shade ; others 
with a port- wine shade. All these can be imitated now by the use of 
these artificial dyes. 

The Chairman. You consider those not only sophistications but 
deleterious to public health? 

Mr. Wyatt. They are becoming less so now, because the aniline 
dyes can be prepared without the use of arsenic. At one time they 
were almost always compounds of arsenic and they were deemed by 
medical men objectionable on those grounds. 

The Chairman. But by later processes 

Mr. Wyatt. By later processes they are making them without any 
deleterious substance whatever. Consequently things are improving 
in that respect. They are used now to enable wine growers abroad to 
sell to wine iijiporters in this country as certain brands certain other 
brands. 

The Chairman. That is sophistication, is it not? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; that is sophistication. 

The Chairman. It would be sophistication if I should sell Smith's 
wine, which is worth 50 cents a bottle and has no reputation, for 
Jones's wine, which is worth $3.50 a bottle? 

Mr. Wyatt. That is sophistication. 

The Chairman. But by the use of these things the cheaper wine is 
made to appear the better wine? 

Mr. Wyatt. Yes; it gives the color. 

The Chairman. In the ales and porter that you have examined, 
have you ever analyzed any, either foreign or domestic, that showed the 
presence of anything that you considered deleterious to public health? 

Mr. Wyatt. Never. 

The (Chairman. Do you know, of your own knowledge, experience, 
or information, that any of the brewers of this country used aloes or 
any subsritute for hops or malt that would, in your opinion, be 
unhealthful? 

Mr. Wyatt. Absolutely not. I have never met any. I have never 
heard of any. The only thing, as I said before, is the rumors that 
have come through the press. I have read articles in the newspapers 
charging brewers with using them, but I think they are purely imag- 
inary, as I have never been able to trace them down. 



412 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PB0DUCT8. 



TESTIMONY OF FRED. C. WACKENHUTH. 

Fred. C. Wackenhuth, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. I am a brewer. 

The Chairman. How long have you been engaged in that business? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. About thirty years. 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Newark, N. J. 

The Chairman. Wl\at concern are j^ou connected with? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. The firm of Ballantine & Co., Newark, N. J. 

The Chairman. In what department of the work are you engaged? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. I supervise the work. 

The Chairman. Do you do the brewing? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you do the buying? 

Mr. Wackenhuth, Yes. 

The Chairman. You see what goes into the beer? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. What is the capacity of your brewery for manu- 
facture? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Four hundred thousand barrels a year. 

The Chairman. What do you make your beer of? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Malt, some cereals, hops, water, and yeast. 

The Chairman. Do you make it just in the usual way of manufac- 
ture — the method customary in the manufacture of beer in this 
country, so far as you know? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. About the same. 

The Chairman. By the use of some cereals? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. In place of malt; more as an adjunct to malt. 

The Chairman. Do you use preservatives? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes; sometimes only. 

The Chairman. On what occasions? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. In the height of the season — the summer time 
and for bottling beer only. We use it about five months in the year. 

The Chairman. What do you use? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Salicylic acid. 

The Chairman. Are you a chemist? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You have served your time as an apprentice to the 
brewing business? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Well, no; I was raised in the business, so to 
speak. 

The Chairman. Are you a brewmaster, or do you have a brew- 
master besides yourself? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. No; I have that position myself. I have some 
assistants. 

The Chairman. The object of this inquiry is to ascertain, if we can, 
what, if any, of the food products are adulterated and sold to the 
people that are deleterious to public health. You have stated prac- 
tically all that you use in the manufacture of your beer? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you consider everything that you use is 
perfectly sound and healthful? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 413 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes; I do. 

The Chairman. And proper to be used, do you? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. You would not be afraid to drink it yourself? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. I do drink it myself at times. 

The Chairman. And your friends do the same? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. I have asked quite a number of gentlemen who 
have been on the stand their opinion as to the passage of a national 
law fixing a standard of beer. In your opinion, could that be done 
to operate fairly? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. I think it would be pretty hard to do it. 

The Chairman. Men can make beer of any standard they please? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. We can make it so that it will be palatable to 
the trade. That is what we are governed by. 

The Chairman. By the demands of your customers? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. Some like a dark beer and some like a light beer? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes; and some like a hop beer and some like 
a sweeter beer. 

The Chairman. In your opinion, so far as you see now, you do not 
see any way in which a national law could be framed so that it would 
guide and direct and control the standard of beer to be made in this 
country? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. I do not. 

The Chairman. In the coloring of beer, for instance, there are 
practically two standards of color, light and dark, are there not? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Well, I would not say that. There are vari- 
ous colors, or, rather, variations in the color. We have four colored 
beers — very pale, export beer, lager beer, and dark special, four 
distinct colors. 

The Chairman. So that if you had a standard you would have to 
have four different standards for the four different colors? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Certainly. 

The Chairman. What, if any, coloring matter do you use? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. We use caramel malt and burnt malt. 

The Chairman. The burnt malt makes a darker-appearing beer, 

Mr. Wackenhuth. Yes. 

The Chairman. And the caramel malt is not so black? 

Mr. Wackenhuth. No, sir. 



TESTIMONY OF EDWARD G. HOCHE. 

Edward G. Roche, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Where do you live? 

Mr. Roche. In New York City. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Roche. I bottle Bass's ale and Guinness's stout. 

The Chairman. You are connected with Mr. Heywood C. Btouu, 
who was on the stand before? 

Mr, Roche. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. You understand the scope of this investigation 
without my repeating it — you have heard it repeated here? 

Mr. Roche. Yes. 



414 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. What suggestions have you to make to the com- 
mittee on the subject? 

Mr. Roche. None that I know of. 

The Chairman. When you bottle your goods — you do not manu- 
facture them? 

Mr. Roche. No; we receive them; we import them as they come 
from the brewery, and we put them in the bottle without the addition 
of any adulterant or preservative, absolutely. 

The Chairman. It comes to you in casks? 

Mr. Roche. It comes to us in casks, and it undergoes a fermenta- 
tion after being put into the bottle, which strengthens it in alcohol 
and also in carbonic acid. 

The Chairman. It undergoes a fermentation after being put in the 
bottle? 

Mr. Roche. Yes. 

The Chairman. Is that the usual way of bottling ale and stout? 

Mr. Roche. Yes; I think so. 

The Chairman. Is it not fermented before being bottled? 

Mr. Roche. It is fermented, but at the same time there is enough 
fermentable matter left in it, with the addition of secondary yeast, to 
cause a further fermentation in the bottle. 

The Chairman. Then do you add any yeast to it? 

Mr. Roche. No. 

The Chairman. You add nothing to the cask as it comes, but you 
put the material in the bottle just as it comes to you? 

Mr. Roche. Just natural fermentation. 

The Chairman. You use no antiseptics? 

Mr. Roche. No. 

The Chairman. Nothing of the kind? 

Mr Roche. Nothing of the kind. 

The Chairman. Did you hear the evidence as to certain goods 
being sold in this country in bottles and the question of forging labels? 

Mr. Roche. Yes; that is done in innumerable instances. I sup- 
pose our brand has been infringed upon in the last ten years a thou- 
sand times. 

The Chairman. Have you had any trials or convictions for the 
offense? 

Mr. Roche. Yes; a half a dozen of them. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions to make to the com- 
mittee as to the way in which the Government might protect itself or 
the honest dealer? 

Mr. Roche. Nothing, except that the Government should protect 
its copyright law — to give a guaranty to users of the copyright to do 
a safe business. 

The Chairman. When they put these forged labels on the bottles, 
they substitute American ales for imported ales? 

Mr. Roche. In every case. 

The Chairman. And in that way they get the benefit of catering to 
what might be called the Anglo-American taste, which thinks there is 
nothing good enough for them made in this country, and so get what 
they suppose to be an imported article without paying the duty to the 
Government. 

Mr. Roche. Yes. 

The Chairman. And in that way they wrong you, who have to pay 
the duty? 

Mr. Roche. Yes; doubly so. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 415 



TESTIMONY OF HENRY HACHEMEISTER. 

Henry Hachemeister, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. Where do yon live? 

Mr. Hachemeister. At 154 East Forty-sixth street, in this city. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I am treasurer of the firm of George Ringler 
&Co. 

The Chairman. What is their business? 

Mr. Hachemeister. Brewers of lager beer. 

The Chairman. You are the treasurer of the company. Do you 
give your time to the business in connection with the manufacture of 
beer? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I do. 

The Chairman. Are you familiar with the manufacture of the 
product known as beer in this country? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I am. 

The Chairman. You know generally what it is made of? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I do. 

The Chairman. This committee is seeking information to give to 
Congress on the question of adulterations of food and drink — first, 
adulterations injurious to the public health, and secondly, that form 
of adulteration that results in a sale to the consumer in fraud of his 
natural rights — selling him what he does not intend to buy or know 
that he is buying. First, as to those adulterations that are injurious 
or deleterious to health, let me inquire, do you use any preservatives 
in your beer? 

Mr. Hachemeister. No, sir. 

The Chairman. How do you preserve your bottled beer? 

Mr. Hachemeister. In the brewing. We do not preserve it at all. 
We do not use anything. 

The Chairman. You adopt the pasteurizing process, I suppose, 

Mr. Hachemeister. We simply steam our beer — some of it. 

The Chairman. What part of it do you steam? 

Mr. Hachemeister. The part, for instance, that is to be shipped — 
that is, to be sent out of town, or perhaps delayed some time. 

The Chairman. To what degree do you heat that? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I am not very familiar with the bottling depart- 
ment, and I do not know. 

The Chairman. That is what is called steaming or pasteurizing the 
beer? 

Mr. Hachemeister. Yes. 

The Chairman. So as to keep it from fermenting? 

Mr. Hachemeister. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use anything besides hops and malt to 
make the beer? 

Mr. Hachemeister. Some corn. 

The Chairman. Do you use any glucose? 

Mr. Hachemeister. No glucose. 

The Chairman. Why do you use corn? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I believe it is to make the beer lighter — to 
make a light-brew beer. 

The Chairman. Does it suit your trade better than an all-malt beer? 

Mr. Hachemeister, I believe it does; otherwise we should not 
brew it. 



416 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. And it is cheaper than all-malt beer to manufac- 
ture, is it not? 

Mr. Hachemeister. It might be a trifle; I do not know that it 
makes much difference. 

The Chairman. Do you think, from what experience you have had 
in this business, that there could be a national law passed which would 
fix a standard of beer for the whole United States? 

Mr. Hachemeister. 1 think so. I do not think it would be fair to 
pass a State law, though. 

The Chairman. Because your competitors in adjoining States would 
have advantages which you would not have here? 

Mr. Hachemeister. Exactly. 

The Chairman. You think it would be an advantage to the honest 
brewers to have a uniform law or standard provided which would 
apply to all the States of the Union? 

Mr. Hachemeister. I do. 

The Chairman. And not to apply as against the brewers of any one 
State? 

Mr. Hachemeister. Exactly. 



TESTIMONY OF ROBERT W. EVANS. 

Robert W. Evans, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Evans. I am a brewer of ale and porter. 

The Chairman. In this country? 

Mr. Evans. Yes. 

The Chairman. Will you tell the committee the difference, briefly, 
between beer, as it is called, and ale? 

Mr. Evans. Well, ale is brewed with top fermentation and not in 
cold storage. Porter is the same, only it is brewed with roasted malt. 

The Chairman. That gives it the black appearance? 

Mr. Evans. Yes — like roasted coffee. 

The Chairman. The only difference between the beer and the ale 
is in the process of brewing; as I understand it, the fermentation takes 
place, in the case of ale, with the yeast on top. 

Mr. Evans. Practically that. 

The Chairman. And that in the beer it settles in the bottom? 

Mr. Evans. Yes. 

The Chairman. What do you use in making ale? 

Mr. Evans. Malt and hops. 

The Chairman. And the same with porter? 

Mr. Evans. Yes. 

The Chairman. You manufacture both ale and porter? 

Mr. Evans. Yes. 

The Chairman. Where is your factory? 

Mr. Evans. At Hudson, N. Y. 

The Chairman. Do you use any cereals besides hops and malt? 

Mr. Evans. Sometimes. 

The Chairman. What do you use? 

Mr. Evans. Corn. 

The Chairman. If you use corn, you have to use less barley malt, 
as I understand it? 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 417 

Mr. Evans. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you use corn that has never been malted — 
unmalted corn? 

Mr. Evans. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you personally see what goes into the manufac- 
ture of beer? 

Mr. Evans. I do not. 

The Chairman. You are not the brew master? 

Mr. Evans. I am not a practical brewer. 

The Chairman. Do you know from personal observation what goes 
into your goods? 

Mr. Evans. I do. 

The Chairman. Do you know what is bought to go into them? 

Mr. Evans. I do. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservatives at all? 

Mr. Evans. No. 

The Chairman. No acids — no salicylic acid? 

Mr. Evans. No. 

The Chairman. Do you pasteurize the beer? 

Mr, Evans. We do not. 

The Chairman. As I understand, it is expected that ale and porter 
will ferment some time after it is bottled. Is that so? 

Mr. Evans. Yes. Ale and porter do not spoil, as lager does, in ship- 
ping. Present-use ale, made for immediate consumption, and not 
particularly exposed, does not have a chance to spoil, so to speak, 
whereas stock ales are brewed with the idea of keeping at any amount 
of temperature. 

The Chairman. How long will a bottle of ale or a bottle of porter 
keep? 

Mr. Evans. Indefinitely, after it has once been found right — when 
found in proper condition for the market. 

The Chairman. How is it if it is ale in wood? How long would that 
keep? 

Mr. Evans. Stock ales, of course, are old ales. They may be sold 
at any time from eighteen months to eight years, according to the 
character of the goods ; or less than that, of course. 

The Chairman. When you say "stock" ales, what do you mean by 
that? 

Mr. Evans. A stock ale is an ale brewed with the idea of keeping, 
whereas present-use ale, so called, is brewed for immediate consump- 
tion. Present-use ales are marketed within a short time of brewing. 

The Chairman. Does ale ever ferment in the bottle? 

Mr. Evans. Present-use ales are all fermented in the bottle. They 
are live ales. 

The Chairman. Do you consider that the ingredients that you use 
in the manufacture of your goods are perfectly sound and healthful 
for public use? 

Mr. Evans. I do. 

The Chairman. You do not know of anything that is put into them 
that is detrimental to public health? 

Mr. Evans. I do not. 

The committee adjourned until to-morrow, Thursday, November 
16, 1899, at 10.30 a. m. 
F P 27 



418 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Thursday, November 16, 1899. 

TESTIMONY OF PROF. RUSSELL H. CHITTENDEN. 

Russell H. Chittenden sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. What is your profession and where is your resi- 
dence? 

Professor Chittenden. I am professor of physiological chemistry 
in Yale University and director of the Sheffield Scientific School, New 
Haven, Conn. 

The Chairman. Will you kindly state briefly what courj^e of study 
you have pursued and what degrees you have taken, with the purpose 
of placing on record your preparation for the profession which you 
follow? And also please state what experience you have had. 

Professor Chittenden. I was graduated from the Sheffield Scien- 
tific School of Yale in 1875 with the degree of bachelor of philosophy. 
I studied physiology and physiological chemistry and allied branches 
at Heidelberg University in 1878 and 1879. I took the degree of doc- 
tor of philosophy at Yale in 1880 and have been professor of physio- 
logical chemistry at Yale ever since 1882. I am also a member of the 
National Academy of Sciences and president of the American Physio- 
logical Society. 

The Chairman. Have you, in the course of your study and experi- 
ence, had occasion to analyze food products in this country? 

Professor Chittenden. Ever since 1882 — for the last seventeen 
years — I have been very much interested in all problems connected 
with the study of digestion and nutrition. In fact, that has been one 
of my special lines of work, and in that direction 1 have had occasion 
to study the action of a large number of substances with reference to 
their influences on digestion and nutrition and have had occasion to 
make analyses of various food products. 

The Chairman. And have you given special attention to the study 
of the use of preservatives or antiseptics? 

Professor Chittenden, That has come in incidentally; in fact, I 
have studied a large number of substances which at the time were 
not in use as preservatives, but have become prominent since that 
time as such. 

The Chairman. What are the usual preservatives used? 

Professor Chittenden. So far as my knowledge goes, the number 
is very large, of course, varying according to the character of the 
food product which is under consideration. Vinegar, acetic acid, 
common salt, various salines, borax, or sodium borate, boracic acid, 
salicylic acid and a great many others which I need not mention, 
perhaps. 

The Chairman. I would like if you would give the committee the 
benefit of your opinion generally as to the use of antiseptics in food. 

Professor Chittenden. Summed up in a few words, I think that 
there are occasions and there are products where it is desirable at 
times to use preservatives, but I have the general feeling that it is 
exceedingly important that we should have some law or some method 
of control by which all food products of any kind to which preserva- 
tives have been added should have a label or some mark which would 
specify the nature or character of the substance added and the quan- 
tity of that substance added. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 419 

In other words, I do not believe that any general law which would 
exclude the addition of what you would speak of as poisonous sub- 
stances would suffice, because I think it is a very diihcult matter to 
find a body of men who will agree ujDon what constitutes a poison. I 
can i^erhaps illustrate my meaning, if I may speak more fully, by giv- 
ing an illustration : Take, for example, the gastric juice ; that is to 
say, the stomach juices upon which we all depend for the digestion 
of any food. One of the governing agents there is hydrochloric acid, 
which is present in the gastric juice to the extent of two-tenths of 1 
per cent. That is perfectly harmless. It is an indispensable agent of 
digestion, and yet every chemist knows that hydrochloric acid or muri- 
atic acid, as the chemist calls it, sometimes is one of the most poison- 
ous substances in concentrated form. 

So, again, with ordinary vinegar or acetic acid, which is a common 
preservative for articles of food, and has been in use for many years. 
In that form it is perfectly harmless, but in concentrated form it is 
one of the most violent of poisons. You can not conceive of anything 
more poisonous. So with many other substances which we use fre- 
quently as preservative agents or as additions to our food; they are 
perfectly harmless in small quantities, but when the quantity is 
increased become poisonous. In other words, it is a question of quan- 
tity. It is no question of the substance whatsoever. 

I think you might say that that illustrates the general principle. 
It is hard to define what poisons are. Some of the most violent poisons 
are, in fact, in small quantities very judicious agents. 

There is an old saying that every medicine is a poison and every 
poison a medicine. It is a question of quantity. In certain definite 
quantities we can not well say that all poisonous substances must be 
excluded, but we can insist upon a law which will compel the stamp- 
ing on a label of this or that agent, which is added for this or that 
purpose, and the quantity; then we have something that maybe con- 
trolled for the great benefit of the people. 

The Chairman. Will you please state the difference between a 
poison and an antiseptic? 

Professor Chittenden. I do not think that one can well make a 
direct statement which would specify a difference. Many antisep- 
tics are violent poisons when the quantity is sufficiently large. 
Hydrochloric acid, to come back to the old illustration, is an exam- 
ple; but of course if you increase the quantity beyond a certain point 
its antiseptic action would be manifest, but would also produce death 
if brought in contact with the living body, internally. 

The Chairman. What is the action of antiseptics on food; what 
are they used for? 

Professor Chittenden. The primary object, as I understand it, is 
to prevent the growth and development of microorganisms. They do 
not necessarily kill the microorganisms which are ordinarily present, 
but they prevent their development, and consequently interfere with 
the production of poisonous products which would tend to contami- 
nate the food. 

The Chairman. It would also interfere, would it not, with digestion? 

Professor Chittenden. I do not think that that necessarily follows, 
but I think that as a rule antiseptics would interfere with such action 
if the quantity were sufficiently large. That varies with the indi- 
vidual bodies. 

The Chairman. Have you ever examined any of the antiseptics 
sold for preserving milk, for instance? Have you seen any of those 
antiseptics put up in bottles? 



420 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Professor Chittenden. No ; I have never analyzed any of those. 
In fact, I know nothing of them except by hearsay. 

The Chairman. We have had brought before our committee quite 
a number of antiseptics that are advertised under different names.- 
In Chicago the thing called "formaldehyde" was brought in. 

Dr. Wiley. Yes; it was called "Freezum." 

Professor Chittenden. I have heard of those things. 

The Chairman. Do you think it wise that those articles should be 
permitted to be sold generally and indiscriminately among the people? 
Take formaldehyde, for instance. Do you think that dangerous? 

Professor Chittenden. I do not think that it ought to be used 
indiscriminately. 

The Chairman. What articles of food have you analyzed that have 
conveyed or shown the presence of antiseptics? 

Professor Chittenden. I have analyzed very few that have shown 
the presence of antiseptics. Of course, in the course of the period I 
have mentioned I have had occasion to analyze a great many, but, 
after all, my special line of work has been rather in the line of study- 
ing the physiological effects of a variety of agents, some of which have 
■come into prominence as preservatives. 

I have analyzed some products, but most of those which have fallen 
into my hands have been free from impurities. I have analyzed some 
of the preserved beef, etc., for the United States Government, but 
with one exception they were all free from any additions. The only 
one which I can recall which had anything in the line of addition con- 
tained simply a large amount of common salt, with just a trace of 
niter — a very minute trace. It was practically the addition of salt. 

The Chairman. Will you please describe the effect that the pre- 
servative has on the stomach? 

Professor Chittenden. That depends altogether on the nature of 
the substance which is meant by the word ' ' preservative. " 

Alcohol, for example, is a good preservative. In some quantities 
alcohol, so far as can be measured by experimental evidence, has very 
little, practically no, injurious effect in small quantities. So far as the 
digestive processes are concerned it rather stimulates than retards the 
digestion so far as can be measured by experiment. Among common 
preservatives there is to be found ordinary salt, and in small amount 
that tends to increase the rate of digestion ; but as the quantity of salt 
is increased you find that there is a falling off in digestive action. 
The salt tends to retard the solution of the food stuff; but still, if one 
is to give a thoroughly accurate answer to such a question, one must 
keep in mind that what we call digestion is the result of a variety of 
physiological processes. A layman thinks of digestion as one process, 
but it depends on the solvent action of a given quantity of the gastric 
juice and is modified by the rate of flow. 

As you add a certain quantity of alcohol to a given quantity of 
stomach contents, you find that that quantity of alcohol in that given 
volume will retard the rate of digestion. It tends to slow the solvent 
action. But in the living stomach you have an increased rate of flow 
as the result of the alcohol, and one balances the other to a certain 
extent. In the living stomach a certain quantity of alcohol present 
does not interfere with the digestive processes. It has, on the other 
hand, physiologically^ speaking, made perhaps a greater drain on the 
body, because it has called forth an increased secretion of the gastric 
juice, which means increased labor on the part of the organism to 
produce that gastric juice. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 421 

Then the rate of digestion depends upon peristalsis. We all know 
the benefit of taking an after-dinner cup of coffee — that it improves 
our digestion. It does not increase or decrease materially the rate of 
solvent action, but it increases the peristaltic movements of the 
intestine, and in that way the rate of digestion is increased. So that 
there are a great many problems of that kind which really must be 
considered in attempting an answer to any such general question. 

Of cou]"se there are agents like alcohol which, taken in large quan- 
ties, produce direct effect on the mucous membrane of the stomach 
by inflammation, etc., but that means more especially in large 
quantities. 

So hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice belonging in the stomach 
does no harm, as two-tenths of 1 per cent; but 5 per cent would have 
a local inflammation at once. So, as I have said, quantity must 
always be taken into account in such cases and in such connections. 

The Chairman. What is the effect on the stomach of the use of 
salicylic acid? 

Professor Chittenden. So far as my own observation and experi- 
ence goes, there is almost invariable a retardation of digestion in the 
stomach. 

The Chairman. It has a tendency to stop or paralyze. 

Professor Chittenden. I should say retard, rather. And it is said 
that the long-continued use of salicylic acid results in local effects, 
but of that I do not know. 

The Chairman. Local effects — how? 

Professor Chittenden. Local effects on the mucous membrane ; but 
I do not know by personal experiment as to that. 

The Chairman. How is it with regard to borax? That is a matter 
that has been under discussion before the committee. 

Professor Chittenden, I have made a good many experiments with 
borax and boracic acid under varying conditions, and so far as it can 
be stated in a general way — I know that my own experiments indicate 
that small amounts of borax produce no measurable effect that could 
be spokeu of as deleterious; in fact, very small amounts tend to 
increase, if anything, the rate of digestion. That is specially true of 
boracic acid as contrasted with borax. The base combined with the 
boracic acid and borax is in itself, I think, a little inclined to retard 
digestion, so that the boracic acid is not so active as the sodium borate 
or borax. 

I have tried large number of feeding experiments on dogs, with ref- 
erence not so much to digestion by itself as with reference to the copa- 
bined or possible combined action of digestion and the other processes 
of nutrition; and where the quantities given are small there are no 
injurious effects that can be noted at all, but where the quantity given 
is large enough, if j^ou push it to the limit, you find that there is pro- 
duced a nausea and vomiting. That is the maximum effect that I 
have observed. The urine will frequently become alkaline with large 
quantities of borax, but not in small quantities. 

The Chairman. Boracic acid is a product of borax? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes. 

The Chairman. Is it changed in its formation — and how do you 
make it? 

Professor Chittenden. You simply separate it from the borax by 
simply withdrawing; that is, borax is sodium united with boracic acid, 
just as common salt is sodium combined \? ith boracic acid or combined 
with the radical, the chlorine. You can take borax and separate 
boracic acid from it. 



422 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman, In the preservation of meats in this country gen- 
erally we use which — boracic acid or borax? 

Professor Chittenden. That I do not know by any personal knowl- 
edge. 

Dr. Wiley. In former years borax itself was almost exclusively 
used, where used at all. In the last few years boracic acid is largely 
coming into use instead of the borax, especially in preserving hams. 

Professor Chittenden. I may say that our Connecticut State 
board, or rather the agricultural experiment station, have made a 
number of experiments in which borax has been found, and I think 
boracic acid, but I think borax has been a little more prominent in 
those food products. 

The Chairman. In such quantities as you have observed, did you 
consider it dangerous or injurious to the public health? 

Professor Chittenden. Not where I have seen it. I have heard of 
very large quantities being found, but in these analj^ses that have 
been reported at the agricultural experiment station in New Haven 
the quantities were almost all small. The percentages were small. 

The Chairman. Do you think that one-half of 1 per cent of boracic 
acid in butter would be objectionable? 

Professor Chittenden. Not in my judgment; no. 

The Chairman. I would like to get for the benefit of the committee 
your idea as to a national law to regulate the use of these preserva- 
tives or antiseptics. 

Professor Chittenden. My own opinion is that the best result 
would be obtained by a law which should compel the manufacturers 
to stamp upon tlie i)roduct the nature of the preservative used and 
the quantity of tlie preservative present, and that then there should 
be a commission or some one in authority to whom such products 
could be referred, with power in such matters. 

The Chairman. What do you say as to the use of copper and zinc 
colors to give vegetables a green appearance? 

Professor Chittenden. My judgment there is that their use should 
be prohibited, because, as I understand it, there is nothing gained 
except to produce an eflfect which appeals to the eye purely. There 
is no question there of preservation or of correcting the possible 
injurious effects of microorganisms, but the custom is the addition of 
what we know to be a poisonous substance and the only effect pro- 
duced, as I understand it, is to deceive the eye. In other words, I 
see nothing to be gained by the addition of such agents, and there is 
possible danger. 

The Chairman. Then by or through this commission you would 
not only have marked the preservatives contained, but in some cases 
you would prohibit the use of a certain class of preservatives? 

Professor Chittenden. So-called preservatives which are well- 
known to be absolutely poisonous and dangerous, I think it would be 
wise to prohibit. 

The Chairman. What food products have you analyzed? 

Professor Chittenden. I have analyzed canned meats; I have 
examined sausages and sucli products at various times, butters, milk, 
and various cereal products, various saccharine products, sugars, 
molasses, siru^^s, and things of that sort. 

The Chairman. While on this point, take the question of sirups. 
Under the resolution authorizing this investigation we are asked to 
report upon such adulterants as are deleterious to public health and 
those that are mere sophistications, and on the question of sirups do 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 423 

you know — have you observed, as a matter of fact — tliat sirups, for 
instance, maple sirup, are frequently made in large percentage of, 
say, glucose? 

Professor Chittenden. I have known of such cases. 

The Chairman. And honey? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes. 

The Chairman. We have many instances where honey has been 
brought before the committee — a thing marked honey, but which con- 
sisted to the extent of 80 or 85 per cent of glucose, and perhaps a little 
piece of honeycomb at the top. That would not necessarily be dele- 
terious to health, but it is a fraud on tlie consumer. 

Professor Chittenden. It is unquestionably a fraud. 

The Chairman. Do you not think that the law should also, in the 
interest of the consumer and to protect the honest manufacturer who 
sells his goods for what they are, that such goods should be marked 
for what they are? 

Professor Chittenden. I think so most decidedly. I believe — if I 
may state my belief 

The Chairman. Certainly; that is what I want. 

Professor Chittenden. I believe the glucose industry and the oleo- 
margarine industry are perfectly legitimate, but there should be a law 
which should compel the selling of those products under their j)roper 
names. In other words, the consumer, when he buys an article, should 
be so protected that he is buying what he asks for. If he wants honey, 
he should get honey, and not glucose. I think that could be done by 
compelling the articles in question to be labeled as their composition 
warrants. 

TliB Chairman. Have you analyzed any beer? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes; I have analyzed a good many liquors 
of all kinds. I have been specially interested in the study of the 
influence of alcoholic fluids on digestion for the last three or four 
years, and have published quite a number of papers on the subject. 

The Chairman. In the beers that you have analyzed — were they 
domestic beers? 

Professor Chittenden. Only domestic beers, with one exception. 
There was one imported beer. 

The Chairman. Did you find in any of the beers that you examined 
any evidence of antiseptics or preservatives? 

Professor Chittenden. I did not in the samples that I analyzed. 
In fact, I may say that perhaps in all the various liquors which in the 
last five years I have had occasion to analyze the only well-defined 
impurity, if I can call it that, was the addition of water in whisky. I 
was very anxious to find out what i^ossible adulteration might be in 
the whisky which one would find among the lower-class saloons, and, 
to my surprise, I found that, so far as my method of analysis would 
admit of showing, the custom seemed to prevail in some of the lowest 
grades of saloons of adding water to the whisk3^ Perhaps I ought to 
add that I found the presence of tannin also in some of the lower- 
grade whiskies — that is, low in the sense of having a less proportion 
of alcohol and a greater proportion of water. But whether that was 
the result of adulteration or of the presence of the product for a long 
time in bad casks -I could not tell. 

The Chairman. In those whiskies that you mention you say you 
found the presence of tannin, but, with that exception, it was usually 
adulterated with water? 

Professor Chittenden. That was the only evidence that I had of 



424 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

adulteration. Perhaps I ought to add that I think it is questionable 
whether chemical analysis alone will always detect what you might 
call "made" whisky. 

The Chairman. What is your idea of beer, Professor? Can you give 
us a definition? 

Professor Chittenden. My idea of beer is a malt product — a pro- 
duct of barley malt. 

The Chairman. Would the substitution of other materials, in part 
use, still enable it to be denominated beer? 

Professor Chittenden. In my judgement, the substitution of bitter 
principles in place of hops would constitute an adulteration, but I am 
not perhaps posted on what would be considered legitimately an 
adulteration in beer. I look upon beer as a malt product and hop 
product and that the bitter principle should be hops. I do not know 
what the world in general think. 

The Chairman. Would the substitution of other cereals, unbolted 
cereals, like rice or corn, in your opinion, be deleterious to health? 

Professor Chittenden. No; I think not. I see no reason why it 
should be. 

The Chairman. Did you ever examine any unfermented grape 
juice? 

Professor Chittenden. No; I never did. 

The Chairman. Do you think that an artificial whisky made by 
essences is as wholesome as a natural whisky made by aging? 

Professor Chittenden. I should think it very questionable. I do 
not think I could answer that definitely, because I do not know by any 
direct knowledge what the effect of some of these essences is upon the 
body. 

The Chairman. Have you analyzed any extracts? 

Professor Chittenden. You mean vegetable extracts? 

The Chairman. Extracts for flavoring foods. 

Professor Chittenden. I think not. I think I analyzed one or two 
so-called vanilla extracts some years ago ; not of late years. 

The Chairman. Have you had any occasion to analyze or examine 
any canned coffee? 

Professor Chittenden. Not that I remember now. I think not. I 
have analyzed coffee, but none of the canned coffee. 

The Chairman. Nor tea? 

Professor Chittenden. No tea. 

The Chairman, Have you examined any jellies? 

Professor Chittenden. I think not; not of late years. 

The Chairman. There is evidence before the committee that jellies 
are made by simply using glucose or acetic acid or hydrochloric acid, 
or both. Would you consider that a proper and healthful thing to go 
into the human stomach? 

Professor Chittenden. I should think it would depend upon the 
quantity of the acid present. In my judgment, certainly such pro- 
ducts should be labeled for what they are and not sold in any attempt 
to deceive the public. 

The Chairman. Acetic acid is a very strong and dangerous article, 
is it not, to go into the human stomach? 

Professor Chittenden. It depends entirely on the quantity of the 
acid. What we ordinarily call vinegar is only diluted acetic acid, 
and it is a question of quantity, as I said before. 

The Chairman. If it should be used to the extent of furnishing all 
the acid necessary in a mixture with glucose to make a thing taste like 
jelly, would you consider that injurious? 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 425 

Professor Chittenden. I think it very doubtful if it would be inju- 
rious to the body ; but, as I said before, I think such products should be 
labeled for what they are and not sold for something else. 

The Chairman. If that was the only acid, would you consider that 
if there was acid enough in, say, a pail of glucose, as it is described 
before this committee, and the only tart acid in it, or the only essence 
of sourness in it is what comes from this acid, stored up in the glu- 
cose — would you not think that if used in quantities enough to give it 
that jelly taste it would be almost too much to go into the human 
stomach? 

Professor Chittenden. I think the truth would compel me to say 
that the quantity which a person would ordinarily consume would 
probably be so small that the amount of acid mixed in might possibly 
not be injurious; but I do not think such products should be sold 
excepts under their own proper label, showing what they are. 

The Chairman. You have given this subject of digestion long and 
careful study. Will you kindly name some of the articles which you 
consider improper to be sold for food that are being sold for food? 

Professor Chittenden. You mean as additions to food? 

The Chairman. Yes ; either as additions, or as the food products 
themselves. 

Professor Chittenden. I should say that such agents as you referred 
to some moments ago — sulphate of copper and salts of that kind which 
are used to color products — ought to be prohibited, for I see no possible 
occasion of their use as food products or as additions to food products. 
And I should question the propriety of tlie use of salicjdic acid, and 
although I have very little knowledge of the action of formaldehyde, 
I am inclined to believe that that product is of rather questionable 
value in such mixtures. But, as I say, I have had no personal knowl- 
edge. I have never experimented sufficiently with formaldehyde to 
warrant me in making a definite statement. 

The Chairman. Formaldehyde is a preparation from wood alcohol, 
is it not? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes. It is sold, of course, under a variety 
of names. The "freezum" spoken of a few minutes ago is essentially 
a formaldehyde product. 

The Chairman. I am very much obliged to you. Professor, for giving 
us your time and attention, and if you have any suggestions which 
you would be willing to make to the committee I should be very glad 
to receive them, as they would undoubtedly be valuable to the com- 
mittee, regarding any foods that are sold that ought to be marked 
differently from what they are. 

Professor Chittenden. What seems to be to me the one important 
point which I think I have perhaps emphasized sufficiently already is 
the great importance, as to all food products which contain additions, 
of having those products so stamped that they will show the nature 
of the substance added and the quantity of that substance which is 
present. That seems to me to be one of the very essential points for 
the protection of the community at large and one which ought not to 
be harmful to the manufacturers of such products. 

The Chairman. Upon the question of the establishment of such 
standards of purity, or standards of safety, or standards of strength 
of food — do you not think that such standards could be established 
under a commission such as you suggested? 



426 ADULTERATIOIsr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Professor Chittenden. I think it could ; yes. I think such a com- 
mission would be of very great value, of very great help, in establish- 
ing better conditions in all these respects. 

The Chairman. Would you favor fixing a standard for everything 
that could be reasonably fixed? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes ; so far as it can be done. 

The Chairman. For instance, take beer. Would you favor a stand- 
ard of beer? 

Professor Chittenden. I think it would be very desirable for at 
least a standard which might give a little leeway. I do not mean a 
standard fixed to an absolute point, because that would be impossi- 
ble; but a standard which would be considered reasonable in the 
minds of reasonable persons of scientific knowledge. 

The Chairman. And when adulterated below that point it should 
be known to the consumer? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes. 

The Chairman. Here is a chemical combination of standard beers 
[exhibiting the paper to Professor Chittenden] , It is a standard which 
I am informed is or has been fixed by Prof. Gustav Rupp, that gives 
the percentage of alcohol and of extract of malt. Would you kindly 
look at that document? 

Professor Chittenden (after examining the paper). Of course I 
should want to study this in some detail in order to accept it in its 
entirety, but I think the principle embodied here is the right principle. 

The Chairman. And the proportions would strike you as somewhat 
near what you consider a proper beer? 

Professor Chittenden. Yes, I think so. The quanity of alcohol, 
tor instance, falls in with about my own experience in the analysis of 
ordinary beers. Condensed beer I have not analj^zed. 

The Chairman. That is a malt extract, I suppose? 

Professor Chittenden, Yes. That I have not analyzed. 

The Chairman. The malt extract is the valuable thing in the beer? 

Professor Chittenden. From the nutritive standpoint it is. 

The Chairman. And you think there should be some standard that 
would declare that? 

Professor Chittenden. I think that would be very valuable, yes. 
I think that probably a large number of analytical examinations would 
doubtless show that in the case of lager, for example, there should be 
some little margin for possible variation. That is, I do not think a 
single definite figure should be used unless it is stated that that should 
be a maximum or minimum. 

The Chairman. Have you considered the best manner of preserv- 
ing a beer to keep it from fermenting or keep the germs from working 
after it is bottled? 

Professor Chittenden. No; I have not given any thought to that 
matter. 

The Chairman. You know what the pasteurizing process is, the boil- 
ing process? 

Professor CHITTENDEN. Yes; I understand it. 

The Chairman. And you think that the use of preservatives in beer, 
if used in proper quantities, would not be deleterious to health? 

Professor Chittenden. I think that some would not be, but I should 
have the preservative specified on the label and the quantity. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 427 



TESTIMONY OF ISAAC RHEINSTROM. 

Isaac Rheinstrom, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your residence? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. Distilling liqueurs — cordials. 

The Chairman. You manufacture them in Cincinnati? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. Yes. 

The Chairman. In this work what do you use? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. We use herbs, fruits, and spirits — cologne spirits. 

The Chairman. That is, the pure spirits? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. It is refined alcohol. It is the spirit that is sup- 
posed to be free from fusel. That is, the alcohol distilled over, or 
refined. 

The Chairman. What suggestion have you to make to the com- 
mittee as to the enactment of a national law governing the manufac- 
ture of food products? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. I should say that such a law should provide that 
all goods sold to the public for pure should be pure and should be as 
represented ; that any goods manufactured that contained anj;- anti- 
septics, if they are considered unwholesome by the authorities, should 
not be used or allowed to be sold. Of course I can only speak of my 
own line of business, the distilling of those various liqueurs without 
resorting to any antiseptics of any kind, or glucose. 

The Chairman. Your spirits and your liqueurs are self -preservative? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. Yes. Still we have goods, such as wine, that 
comes into our manufactory. They can be produced without resorting 
to anj^ antiseptics by simply aging them suflBciently. 

The Chairman. Do you use anything that you would consider 
dangerous or deleterious to the public health? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. We are not using anything that is considered 
injurious, by the authorities, to the public health. Therefore our 
experience is that these goods can be produced without resorting to 
anything injurious. 

The Chairman. Have you ever had occasion to know or believe 
that those essences are produced in any other way — of course, I do 
not call for the names of any of your competitors, 

Mr. Rheinstrom. I am sorry to say, yes. 

The Chairman. By the use of antiseptics? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. By the use of antiseptics. Where goods are 
sold as distilled when not distilled, but by the cold process — resort- 
ing to essential oils — essences, we think that that is wrong. If sold 
for distilled they should be distilled; if sold as made from herbs and 
fruits they should be made from the herbs and fruits — in this country 
as well as those imported from Europe. 

The Chairman. If you have any other suggestion to make, the 
committee would be glad to hear it. You make your goods in an 
honest way and you would like your competitors to do the same? 

Mr. Rheinstrom. Yes; I would like to be put on the same footing. 
Our goods contain no impurities, and, of course, it is a great disad- 
vantage to us when other people can sell their goods and guarantee 
them to be as good as ours when they are not what they are sold for. 



428 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



TESTIMONY OF JAMES N. JARVIE. 

James N. Jarvie, of Arbuckle Bros. , sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your residence and occupation? 

Mr. Jarvie. My business address is No. 71 Water street, New York. 
I am in the coffee and sugar business. 

The Chairman. In the coffee business, what do you do with the 
coffee? 

Mr. Jarvie. We roast it. 

The Chairman. You buy it and sell it? 

Mr. Jarvie. We import it and roast it. 

The Chairman. And put it up in cans? 

Mr. Jarvie. In pound packages. 

The Chairman. What is the name of it? 

Mr. Jarvie. Our principal brand is Ariosa. We have others. 

The Chairman. What others? 

Mr. Jarvie. For instance, the "President's Cabinet," and "Java- 
ocha. " 

The Chairman, From what country do you import your coffee 
principally? 

Mr. Jarvie. From Brazil. 

The Chairman. Do you get any importations from any other 
country? 

Mr. Jarvie. Yes; from all the coffee-growing countries of the 
world, I should say. 

The Chairman. Do you sort your coffee — 3^ou have different grades 
of coffee? 

Mr. Jarvie. Yes. 

The Chairman. What makes the different grades ; where it is raised, 
or the treatment? 

Mr. Jarvie. Brazil grows a very fine coffee and a very poor coffee, 
and the grades are, of course, in between. The imperfections in the 
coffee are what make the grades. 

The Chairman. What are those imperfections, generally? 

Mr. Jarvie. Black beans, sticks, stones, dirt, etc. 

The Chairman. When you say "black beans," you mean a coffee 
bean that was not matured? 

Mr. Jarvie. That was not matured or that was damaged in its 
preparation. 

The Chairman. In some countries they take that out, do they not? 

Mr. Jarvie. Yes; they take it out in all countries — that is, from 
the finer grades. 

The Chairman. And it is sorted by hand? 

Mr. Jarvie. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do the people in this country — the merchants 
here — sort their coffee? 

Mr. Jarvie. Generally, no. 

The Chairman. You know what is commonly spoken of as " black- 
jack;" do you know what that means? 

Mr. Jarvie. In coffee? 

The Chairm'an. Yes, 

Mr. Jarvie. I do not. 

The Chairman. Have you ever seen any coffee of such a low grade 
that it contains practically all dead beans? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 429 

Mr. Jarvie. Yes; I have. 

The Chairman. That is shipped to this country largely from 
Germany, is it not? 

Mr. Jarvie. No; it comes more from Central American countries 
than from any other. 

The Chairman. It is the refuse after the coffee has been picked 
over, is it not? 

Mr. Jarvie. Yes. It is the refuse, and it comes in in very small 
proportions. 

The Chairman. What is done vrith it when it comes here? 

Mr. Jarvie. I presume it is mixed, but that is presumption on 
my part. We do not handle that kind of coffee, so I do not know, 
but the proportion of it is so small that it would be lost in the shuflle. 
It certainly would not be 1 per cent of the coffee imported. 

The Chairman, You do not mix it, you say? 

Mr. Jarvie. No. 

The Chairman. Do you know of anybody that does? 

Mr. Jarvie. I do not. 

The Chairman. Do you mix anything with your coffee? 

Mr. Jarvie. Any adulterants? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Jarvie. No. Coffee is so low in price to-day that it would not 
pay to do so if a man wanted to; and the difference between the high 
and the low grades is so small that it does not pay to handle such 
stock as you term "black-jack." 

The Chairman. Then, as I understand you, you roast the coffee, 
and you send it out just as the grade that it comes in? You do not 
sort and do not mix? 

Mr, Jarvie. Well, I do not say that, because coffee is generally 
improved by blending, and in that way, of course, it is mixed. It is 
very seldom that coffee of one grade or one country goes out by itself. 
It is generally blended, but that is for the purpose of giving a better 
result. 

The Chairman. And not for the purpose of cheapening it? 

Mr. Jarvie. No. 

The Chairman. If you have any suggestion to make, I would be 
glad if you would make it to the committee. There has been con- 
siderable complaint, whether well founded or not I do not know, that 
there is a great mixture of coffee, and it is for j^our interest as well 
as for the interests of the consumers that the mixing of the cheap stuff 
that is brought here should not be permitted. You would favor, I 
suppose, a national law that would compel all packages of coffee to be 
stamped for what they contain, and if they contain anything but 
coffee that that fact should be stated. 

Mr. Jarvie. Undoubtedly; but at this time coffee is so low in price 
that it would not pay. 

The Chairman. It would not pay to adulterate it? 

Mr. Jarvie. It would not pay to adulterate it, and for that reason 
I do not know of any adulterations coming in. 

The Chairman. One of the leading merchants of Chicago came 
before our committee when they were there and showed us samples 
of this " black-jack " and testified that he was obliged to mix because 
his competitors mixed. 

Mr. Jarvie. He must sell to a pretty poor class of trade. 

The Chairman. He is one of the largest merchants in Chicago. He 
showed us what he called honest coffee and what he called the mixed 



430 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PE0DUCT8. 

coffee. He showed us a coffee composed, I think he said, of 20 per 
cent of "black-jack" and coffee that has been rejected in other 
countries. He remarked himself about the low price of coffee and 
that it hardly paid to adulterate it. He said his competitors did it. 

Mr. JARVIE. We are not his competitors, I am very thankful to say. 

Do you wish to ask our chemist any questions? We do not use a 
chemist in the coffee business, but you requested me to bring our 
chemist with me, and he is here. 

The Chairman. I shall be glad to ask him a few questions. 



TESTIMONY OF LOUIS J. SCHILLER. 

Louis J. Schiller, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Mr. Schiller. At 467 Waverly avenue, Brooklyn. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Schiller. I am a chemist. 

The Chairman. By whom are you employed? 

Mr. Schiller. By Arbuckle Brothers. 

The Chairman. In what capacity are you employed by them? 

Mr. Schiller. As chemist. 

The Chairman. What are your duties? 

Mr. Schiller. The chemist examines all the raw products coming 
to the refinery and also all the refined material that goes out — the 
refined products. 

The Chairman. Then you know what comes in and what goes out? 

Mr. Schiller. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you understand the process of making sugar? 

Mr. Schiller. Yes. I have nothing to do with the coffee. 

The Chairman. In the process of refining sugar or making sugar 
such as is used in this market what do you use? 

Mr. Schiller. I do not quite understand that question — do you 
want the whole process. 

The Chairman. Briefly. You understand that the committee does 
not want any trade secrets ; they do not want to pry into the personal 
business of anybody, yourself or your employers; but we would like 
to know the material that goes to make the sugar that people have on 
their tables. 

Mr. Schiller. Briefly, the raw sugar is, as it comes to us from dif- 
ferent countries, dissolved in water and run over bags or through 
presses to remove the suspended impurities, and then it is run over 
bone char — ^bone black — to remove the soluble impurities. Then it is 
crystallized in a vacuum pan, and that is practically all the process. 
Of course there is a quantity of detail connected with it, but that is 
about all there is to it — four or five separate steps. 

The Chairman. What proportion of the sugar do you manufacture, 
you think, that is used in this country? 

Mr. Schiller. That I am unable to say. 

The Chairman. You manufacture large amounts or you refine large 
amounts, do you not? 

Mr. Schiller. Yes, we do. That, however, is also a question that 
I can hardly answer, as I am not acquainted with the market at all 
and do not follow it. We manufacture large quantities, compared 
with the English refiners, and we are considered large manufacturers 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 431 

as compared with those. Our refinery is one of the largest in the 
country, but I do not know in just what proportion we manufacture. 

The Chairman. I wish to inquire if there is anything that goes into 
that sugar besides the raw sugar. 

Mr. Schiller. At one stage, after the sugar is dissolved, lime is 
used to correct acidity. All the refiners use lime, and some refiners 
are in the habit of using blood or albumen or other material in its 
place, for the purpose of clarifying or removing the suspended impu- 
rities. 

The Chairman. Is there any grade of sugar made in this country 
to your knowledge in which starch is used? 

Mr. Schiller. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Or any other adulterant to cheapen the product. 

Mr. Schiller. No, sir; I have never seen any. It is my business 
to examine samples. I have been over, I suppose, several hundred 
and I have never seen a sample that I considered an adulterant. I 
think that in 1882 I saw two samples. One was of granulated sugar 
that had a large proportion of granulated glucose in it. That was 
seventeen years ago, and since then I have seen nothing. Where 
those two samples came from I do not know. I was assistant chemist 
at the time and did not follow the matter up. 

The Chairman. You can not mix glucose sugar with the sugar you 
make, can you? 

Mr. Schiller. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You could not if you wanted to, could you? 

Mr. Schiller. A blind man could tell the difference immediately. 
We get 99.8 of pure sugar; a couple of tenths of impurities, possibly 
made up of one-tenth moisture and one-tenth of ash. 

The Chairman. You mean 99 per cent of pure cane sugar? 

Mr. Schiller. Yes. Granulated sugar is practically pure sugar, 
as good as it is possible to make. Any dry substance, if absolutely 
dry, will absorb a little amount of moisture. A barrel of sugar will 
take up a very small amount of moisture. I have seen our record 
run 99.9. 

The Chairman. Is zinc used in any of the processes? 

Mr. Schiller. No, sir. There are processes, I believe, that are 
patented that use zinc, but none are used in the refinery. 

The Chairman. As to this powdered sugar, it is currently thought 
and believed by many people that that is mixed or adulterated with 
starch — corn flour, as it is called. You never saw any of that? 

Mr. Schiller. No. 

The Chairman. You have no occasion to buy starch in your refin- 
ery at all? 

Mr. Schiller. No. I do not know but what the starch is about as 
valuable as the sugar. I do not, however, know anything about the 
processes of starch. 

The Chairman. Nor what they call corn flour? 

Mr. Schiller. Our powdered sugar is just as pure as our granulated 
sugar. 

The Chairman. How is it powdered — by grinding? 

Mr. Schiller. By grinding. It is run through sieves. 

The Chairman. There is a feeling prevalent among the people that 
there is a good deal of impure sugar, and I think that this testimony 
will have a tendency to remove that impression. 

Mr, Schiller. I wish that all products were as pure as sugar. 



432 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



TESTIMONY OF MORITZ EISNER. 

MORITZ Eisner, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Eisner. We are importers of mineral waters and agents for 
Hofe's Malt Extract. 

The Chairman. Where is that made? 

Mr. Eisner. Hoff's Malt Extract is made in this country and abroad? 

The Chairman. Made there and here both? 

Mr. Eisner. Yes. 

The Chairman. Are those who make it the same parties in both 
countries? 

Mr. Eisner. It is owned by one company now. 

The Chairman. What do you use in manufacturing this extract? 

Mr. Eisner. Malt. 

The Chairman. Do you use any other cereal besides malt? 

Mr. Eisner. No. 

The Chairman. No rice nor corn? 

Mr. Eisner. No. 

The Chairman. It is just extract of malt? 

Mr. Eisner. Malt and bitter principles. 

The Chairman. You use hops then? 

Mr. Eisner. To a certain extent. 

The Chairman. Where do you get your bitter principle except in 
hops? 

Mr. Eisner. Well, it is a proprietary article, and the process is a 
trade secret. 

The Chairman. You use a bitter principle with the malt? 

Mr. Eisner. Yes. 

The Chairman. Are you willing to state whether in your opinion it 
is a vegetable principle? 

Mr. Eisner. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. It is a vegetable principle; so that in your opinion 
it is not deleterious to public health? 

Mr. Eisner. On the contrary. 

The Chairman. On the contrary, you think it is healthful? 

Mr. Eisner. Yes. 

The Chairman, Do you use any antiseptics or preservatives? 

Mr. Eisner. None whatever. 

The Chairman. Do you pasteurize it? 

Mr. Eisner. Yes, to the degree of 55° Reaumur. 

The Chairman. That is enough to effect the pasteurizing process? 

Mr. Eisner. Fully. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestion to make as to a national 
law fixing a standard of malt extract? 

Mr. Eisner. Very much. Every brewer is now selling beer as malt 
extract. 

The Chairman. Your extract contains some alcohol. 

Mr. Eisner. A minute quantity. The difference between beer and 
•malt extract like ours is that ours contains a minute quantity of alco- 
hol and large quantities of malt, whereas beer is the other way. 

The Chairman. Do you know what the word "Kaiser" means as 
applied to a standard — such a " percentage of Kaiser;" that means 
such a percentage, as I understand it, of malt extract. 

Dr. Wiley. Kreuzen, I suppose. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 433 

Mr. Eisner. That is a German expression for the percentage of 
malt extract. 

The Chairman. Do yon think that the Government ought in a gen- 
eral way to compel the percentage of malt extract to be marked? 

Mr. Eisner. The foreign governments do. 

The Chairman. What governments? 

Mr. Eisner. The German and Austrian Governments, to my 
knowledge. 

The Chairman. They compel it in one way by seeing first that they 
collect their tax on so much barley? 

Mr. Eisner. I do not exactly know the law abroad, but it is a fact 
that beer could not be sold as malt extract without a certain percent- 
age of malt extract, "Kreuzeu," as they call it. That is 20 per cent 
of malt extract. 

The Chairman. There is very little beer sold in this country with 
such a percentage? 

Mr. Eisner. There is very little sold up to 10 per cent. 

The Chairman. What would you say about fixing a standard for 
a proprietary article? 

Mr. Eisner. If it is sold for a malt extract it should, be a malt 
extract, otherwise it should be called beer. 

TESTIMONY OF PROF. WILLIS G. TUCKER. 

Willis G. Tucker, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. If agreeable to you, Professor Tucker, I will ask 
Dr. Wiley to propound the questions to you, as I am not feeling at 
all well this morning. 

Professor Tucker. It is quite agreeable to me. 

Dr. Wiley. Please state your profession, Professor Tucker. 

Professor Tucker. I am professor of chemistry in the Albany Medi- 
cal College and director of the State board of health of New York 
State. 

Dr. Wiley. Have you long been engaged in the examination of 
food products? 

Professor Tucker, I have been more or less engaged in that work 
for a period extending over some twenty years. 

Dr. Wiley. Have you studied the subject of the adulteration of 
human food? 

Professor Tucker. I have. 

Dr. Wiley. Will you state for the benefit of the committee some of 
the lines of study which you have undertaken, using your own words 
and developing the lines which you have followed, and the character 
and extent of adulteration which you have covered? 

Professor Tucker. Well, I hardly know how to begin to answer 
that question. General examination of food and drugs under the 
New York State laws is placed under the control of the State board 
of health, with the exception of dairy products and vinegar which 
are under the charge of the board of agriculture. Some years ago 
we made some investigation of food articles, but during the last few 
years we have done little work in this direction on account of the 
insufficiency of our appropriations for our work, so that our work has 
been confined in large part to the examination of drugs; and my work 
has been largely confined to that line and to analyses of waters and 
such miscellaneous work as the State board of health places in my 
F P 28 



434 ADULTEEATIOIsr OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

hands. So that during the last few years we have not carried on any 
very active work in the examination of foods proper. 

Dr. Wiley. In the examination of drugs have you ever had occasion 
to examine those which are sometimes used as food preservatives — 
such as formaldehyde, salicylic acid, benzoic acid, etc.? 

Professor Tucker. Not specially; no, sir. 

Dr. Wiley. In your former examination of food products was your 
attention directed to the use of preservatives in foods? 

Professor Tucker. At the time we were most actively engaged in 
that work the use of food preservatives was not nearly as common as 
now, so that we have done not very much work in that particular 
direction. 

Dr. Wiley, Can you state what is the attitude of the New York 
State board of health toward the subject of preservatives in foods? 

Professor Tucker. I do not think that they have ever declared 
their attitude precisely. The matter has come up in various ways in 
our legislature during the last few years, and our general law covers 
tlie whole case really, because it prescribes the use of deleterious con- 
stituents, and a food preservative, if found to be deleterious, would 
not need to be specifically named in the law or in the regulations of 
tlie board. It Avould come under the general law. We have law 
enough, perhaps, in New York State. The difficulty is with enforcing 
it without sufficient appropriations to carry on constant inspection, 
and prosecuting cases, or to secure the cooperation of the district 
attornej^s of different counties. Without that, no great results can 
be reached. 

Dr. Wiley. Has the State board of health or any other authority 
established standards of purity for foods? 

Professor Tucker. They have the right so to do, but they have 
established no such standard except in the case of mustard, I believe, 
some years ago, and one or two other articles. 

Dr. Wiley. As to vinegar, do you know whether they have estab- 
lished a standard for that? 

Pi'ofessor Tucker. We have a special law that does that. 

Dr. Wiley. What is pure vinegar under the law of the State of 
New York? 

Professor Tucker. It is outside of my department, as I stated, but 
my impression is that it is 4^ per cent of absolute acetic acid and 2^ 
per cent of cider vinegar. 

Dr. Wiley. Is it your information that only a cider vinegar is 
regarded as a pure vinegar in this State, or is malt vinegar regarded 
as pure also? 

Professor Tucker. Yes; malt vinegar, if not sophisticated. 

Dr. Wiley. What is your own opinion, as one of the health offi- 
cers, as to the effect of food preservatives on tlie general health ? 

Professor Tucker. That is a pretty broad question. Salt is a pre- 
servative; sugar is a preservative; alcohol is a preservative. We 
have had and used preservatives from time immemorial. The house- 
wife puts up brandy peaches and other such things; we have corned 
our meats and have used organic and inorganic substances in the 
preservation of food products from time immemorial. So that I do 
not think we could start by saying that the general use of preserva- 
tives is injurious. In many cases there is certainly room for differ- 
ence of opinion, as to the effects of the quantities of such things as 
borax, boracic acid, salic3dic acid, formaldehyde, and such things, in 
the quantities ordinarily used in foods for the human system. That 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 435 

difference of opinion exists amonj? experts; it is a " disagreement of 
the doctors," so to speak, and has been heard many times in our legis- 
lative hearings and before committees. 

Dr. Wiley. I call your attention to the subject because your opin- 
ion will be valuable to the committee, as an expert, as to what legal 
steps should be taken to control the use of preservatives in foods by 
the Federal Government, not the State government, but for the con- 
trolling of interstate commerce, inasmuch as that is as far as the 
Federal law can apply. 

For instance, Professor Tucker, you have a law in the State of New 
York which prevents food adulteration. If a person is convicted he 
may be a perfectly innocent person because the food which he sells 
may have been made in Pennsylvania, and New York is powerless to 
strike the guilty party. The object of a Federal law would be to 
strike that guilty party. 

What would be your idea of a Federal law controlling the use of 
say suspicious preservatives — not sugar, nor salt, but such things as 
you have mentioned yourself as being doubtful — such as salicylic 
acid and formaldehyde. 

Professor Tucker. My opinion being that salicylic acid is the most 
objectionable of the preservatives now said to be commonly used, it 
would be desirable I think if food articles to which it has been added 
had the fact stated upon the label or package in which the goods are 
contained. 

I should not feel like giving it as my opinion that salicylic acid is 
necessarily harmful to all persons in such small quantities as may be 
sufficient to preserve certain food articles; but I think there is some 
evidence tending to that view, and that the public should not be fed 
with staple articles of food in which a medicinal agent so active as 
salicylic acid is introduced, perhaps in excessive quantities, and by 
ignotant comjiounders, without knowing the fact. 

Dr. Wiley. Do j^ou not know that in point of fact the health offi- 
cers of most countries have interdicted the use of salicylic acid in 
food products? 

Professor Tucker. I believe it has been interdicted in several for- 
eign countries — for goods of home consumption at least. 

Dr. Wiley. Do you not know that the brewers as a class have 
ceased entirely to use salicylic acid in their beers? 

Professor Tucker. No; I do not. 

Dr. Wiley. It is evidently the easiest way to preserve beer, to use 
salicylic acid, and if it is not injurious the brewers would be justified 
in using it, while in point of fact, I believe, as far as my observation 
has gone, its use in this country has almost ceased because the brew- 
ers themselves regard it as objectionable. 

The Chairman. There have been several of them here that testify 
that they are using it now. 

Professor Tucker. I think it is being used by bottlers of beers, if 
not by the makers. 

Dr. O'SULLIVAN. One gentleman went so far as to say how much of 
this acid a consumer would get in a glass of beer. That was Mr. 
Wyatt. 

The Chairman. And he said that in such small quantities as that 
it was not harmful. I think he said it was one drop of the acid to ten 
tliousand of the beer. 

Dr. O'SULLIVAN. He figured it at a quarter of a grain to a glass of 
beer. 



436 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Professor Tucker. I am of the opinion that it is generally used yet 
in light wines of the claret class that are sold of the cheaper grades. 
Is not that your experience ? 

Dr. Wiley. I have not examined wines for seven or eight years, 
but beers I have examined within the past year, and the percentage 
of salicylic acid I found to be extremely small if you buy the beer of 
established brewers. 

Dr. O'SULLIVAN. They say that they pasteurize bottled beer and 
put salicylic acid in the wood. 

Dr. Wiley. I have not examined barreled beer lately. 

The Chairman. Some of them said they did it when it was to be 
shipped or to be kept for any length of time. I think that two or 
three of the brewers testified to that, and Dr. Wyatt approved it and 
said it was harmless. 

Dr. Wiley. What is your opinion. Professor Tucker, regarding the 
establishment of a national commission of competent experts to 
determine questions of this kind? 

Professor Tucker. I should entirely favor it. I think that is the 
right direction in which we should move. I think much time is lost 
and money uselessly spent by the diiferent States in going over and 
over the same ground and in a different way. 

There is much talk in the air about adulteration — so many people 
believe that the ordinary articles of food are so much adulterated or 
sophisticated that they need to be answered, and in form. 

For my own part I believe there are much less adulterations than 
is popularly supposed. The case of starch and sugar is a case in 
point. The common idea is that confectionery sugar is starch or 
marble dust. Probably you could collect a thousand samples without 
finding other than pure samples. It is a case like that of calves' 
brains, and milk, and a thousand other fictions. 

Coffee is sold as a mixture. Of course there are many common 
varieties, but I do not believe that they consist of the deleterious 
materials and rubbish which we find published in some of our daily 
papers, such as was published in this city last summer — a case or 
two being spread out into a great lot of figures. The public is misled 
and misinformed. 

One State, in attempting to do the work for itself, goes all over what 
another State has done. One reason why I do not always favor inves- 
tigafcions of this class is because of the work that such men as you 
(Dr. Wiley) have done, so much standard classical work, and for 
New York State to re-collect the same articles and go all over the 
work again would be waste of money. 

But the idea of a national commission who should have competent 
means to investigate and tell the people what articles are and what 
are not harmful, appointed to recommend national legislation bear- 
ing on these questions — that is the right method of going to work at 
the remedy, I think. 

Dr. Wiley. Aside, now, from substances that may be considered 
injurious to health, what is your idea of other adulterations which 
are not particularly injurious, but are simply fraudulent? 

Professor Tucker. I do not know that they need any other special 
protection than the State gives to other articles of consumption. 

The man who buys the cheapest goods that he can find in the market 
has no right to expect that he will get the first quality. And if we 
pay the price of cotton goods, we can not expect to get all linen. If 
we pay the price of shoddy we can not expect to get pure wool. If 



ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 437 

we buy the cheapest ground coffee and the cheapest sirups and flavor- 
ing extracts and the like that we can find in the market, and the 
lowest grade of pease and such things, I do not think that the con- 
sumer has the right to expect that the State will assure him that he 
is getting articles of the purest quality. 

I think that perhaps in some respects we have had a little more leg- 
islation than we need — legislation which in some cases has been 
oppressive and has affected certain industries harmfully, and which 
the j)ublic has not needed or deserved. 

Dr. Wiley. In other words, it is your opinion that a food product 
which is in itself wholesome should not be forbidden to the market? 

Professor TUCKER. Certainly; that is my opinion. 

Dr. Wiley. Hence you would say that a law forbidding the sale of 
oleomargarine as such would be unjust? 

Professor Tucker. Entirely so; fit for the dominions of the Czar of 
Russia — not the United States. 

Dr. Wiley. But a law which would forbid oleomargarine to be sold 
as anything bat oleomargarine would be right, in your opinion? 

Professor Tucker. Yes. 

Dr. Wiley. And a law which forbade the sale of glucose as any- 
thing but glucose? 

Professor Tucker. Yes. 

Dr. Wiley. And it should not be permitted to be sold as, for 
instance, honey? 

Professor Tucker. No. A man who goes into a department store 
and buys a pint of olive oil for 20 cents labeled as a foreign olive oil has 
no right to expect that he is getting real Italian oil. I do not know, 
as a matter of abstract fact, that the State is called upon to protect 
him against the sale of cotton-seed oil or peanut oil, or some other oil 
in place of real olive oil, any more than it would be called upon to 
guarantee to him that when he buys a linen handkerchief it should 
be all linen. 

Dr. Wiley. What is to prevent the department store to which you 
refer from selling that oil for 80 cents instead of 20 cents, and charg- 
ing for the inferior article the price of the genuine article? 

Professor Tucker. I think business would settle that. A man 
willing to pay the 80 cents or the full price would be capable of tell- 
ing whether he got the right article. 

Dr. Wiley. But is every ordinary consumer capable of judging the 
genuine article and distinguishing it from the other? 

Professor Tucker. Perhaps not the ordinarj^ consumer. 

Dr. Wiley. If you should take a hundred men and serve them 
with cotton oil in this restaurant downstairs in this hotel do you think 
they could tell the difference between that and the olive oil? 

Professor Tucker. I think 90 per cent of them would know the 
difference. 

Dr. Wiley. Well, I do not think that 10 per cent could. I doubt 
if 5 could. 

Professor Tucker. Undoubtedly the cardinal principle is that 
goods should be sold under their correct names. I do not think that 
an inferior or cheaper oil should be sold for olive oil, but I do not 
know how important a matter that is in comparison with a great many 
other matters of far greater importance; that would be for a commis- 
sion to determine. I should not deem that a matter of great 
importance. 

Dr. Wiley. I will say that I use constantly cotton oil on my salads 



438 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

at my own house because I am too poor to buy the genuine olive oil, 
but I get my cotton oil from a dealer who sells it for what it is, and 
makes no pretense that it is anything else. That is the proper way 
to do. But I have no doubt that hundreds of people are paying for 
olive oil and not getting it, to the great detriment of the olive-oil 
industry. So that I think it should be a misdemeanor to sell a thing 
for what it is not; and we must remember that the question is not 
whetlier the article is a linen handkerchief, but that it is a matter of 
human food. 

Professor TuCKER. I agree with you that goods should be as repre- 
sented. 

Dr. Wiley. You are not familiar with what the State board of 
agriculture has done in regard to dairy products and vinegar? 

Professor Tucker. I should rather not speak for them. They have 
a department of chemistry in Albany and other places throughout the 
State. 

Dr. Wiley. I entirely agree with Dr. Tucker concerning erroneous 
ojiinions regarding food adulteration. It is not nearly as bad as 
represented, but if it exists at all it should receive public attention. 

Is there any other statement that you would like to make. Dr. 
Tucker, for the benefit of the committee in regard to your work in 
connection with the board of health of the State in respect to the con- 
trol of food products or as to the method in which Federal legislation 
might help you in your work? If there is any suggestion that you can 
make in that line it would be useful to the committee. 

Professor Tucker. I do not know that there is any suggestion that 
I could make, because that involves legal considerations that I have 
not considered — as to how largely the National Government could con- 
trol the sale of articles made outside the State, in a State, or if in the 
State, their sale in that same State. 

Dr. Wiley. Of course the national Congress could not enact laws 
for the benefit of a State, but it could control commerce as between 
the States, so that if the sale took place in one State and the manu- 
facture took place in another, they could punish for the wrongdoing. 
The object of a State law would be to supplement that and make it 
effective. I do not think that it is the purpose of this committee of 
the Senate or of anyone else to propose the enactment of a law having 
any restrictive provisions with regard to commerce in food products. 
On the contrary, the largest liberty could be allowed and would be 
allowed in such a law. The only point to be established and required 
would be that complete honestj^ should characterize interstate deal- 
ings in food products. 

Professor Tucker. I believe that the findings or conclusions of such 
a commission as you refer to would be very valuable in that they would 
probably be enacted into law in the various States. 

Dr. Wiley. They would be a guide for State legislation; that is a 
good point. 

Professor Tucker. The boards of health of a State would, I think, 
regard with much favor any findings of a national commission which 
was made up of experts in those lines of work, and I think therefore 
that it would be a great gain to the States. It would be doing what a 
good many States are undertaking to do or are about doing for them- 
selves. It would give a model for the States. 

Dr. Wiley. In a bill that was before the last Congress a provision 
for such a board or commission was made — a commission to iii-eseribe 
food standards, etc. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 439 

Dr. O'SuLLiVAN. How was the board to be composed ? 

Dr. Wiley. It was to be composed of phj^sicians, physiologists, etc., 
and to be appointed by the President of the United States. 

Dr. O'SULLIVAN. Such a board so constituted would be the best in- 
strumentality for determining whether the preservatives that have 
been under discussion are or are not beneficial. 

Professor Tucker. When there were uj) before the State legislature 
some bills regulating the sale or employment of some food article, the 
interests that favored its use came before the committee, by represent- 
atives paid by them, to argue the case. Hence partisan views are 
often exploited in this manner and we do not even get at the facts of 
the case. A commission such as is suggested would give us the facts. 

Dr. O'SULLIVAN. Not only that, but the action of preservatives 
whose action is in question can only be settled by an impartial series 
of experiments conducted by physiological chemists. 

Dr. Wiley. In connection with what Dr. Tucker has said as to a 
model for State legislation I will state that the State of Indiana ap- 
plied to me last year for a model of a pure-food bill. I took a copy 
of the bill then before Congress and sent that to them and that bill 
was enacted bodily by the legislature of Indiana. So that I think a 
law of Congress would have this beneficial result, that it would tend 
to unify the legislation of the States. 

The committee adjourned until to-morrow, Friday, November 17, 
1899, at 10.30 a. m. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Friday, November 17, 1899. 

TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM J. ROGERS. 

William J. Rogers, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and occupation. 

Mr. Rogers. I reside in Orange, N. J. My place of business is in 
New York City, No. 71 Hudson street. I am with Borden's Condensed 
Milk Company. 

The Chairman. What position do you hold with that company? 

Mr. Rogers. My title is that of secretary of the companj^ I have 
charge of marketing the product. 

The Chairman. Where are your factories? 

Mr. Rogers. We have twelve in the State of New York; five in 
Illinois. When I say factories, I mean factories and other establish- 
ments. 

The Chairman. Your concern condenses a very large proportion 
of the condensed milk that is sold, does it not? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. 

The Chairman. What percentage, do you think? I do not ask that 
you be very accurate, but you can doubtless give an approximation. 

Mr. Rogers. Fully 50 per cent of it, I should say. You are refer- 
ring to the domestic manufacture? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Rogers. Fully 50 per cent. 

The Chairman. A witness before the committee in Chicago, whose 



440 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

name I have forgotten, gave it as his opinion, oifhand, that a certain 
amount of this condensed milk or alleged condensed milk was depleted 
of its cream and fatty substances before condensation, and that 
therefore it was not unhealthy, perhaps, but not so nutritious for 
food as was generally supposed. What do you say as to that? 

Mr. Rogers. That has been done beyond any question of doubt. 

The Chairman. It has been done, you saj^? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you know generally about the management of 
your factories? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes; entirely. 

The Chairman. Do you know what the rule is, or what the process 
is in the respect I have mentioned? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. I have been connected with the company some 
thirty-five years and have seen it grow from a very small beginning 
to a very large business. We are to-day perhaps the largest handlers 
of milk in the world. In a controversy which we had with a foreign 
government — a Canadian government — I made an affidavit, of which 
I have a copy, and which I am prepared to repeat to-day. I will say 
in passing tluit this controversy still exists, although the foreign 
government to which I refer has withdrawn its statement. My affi- 
davit was to the effect that in all our experience of about forty years, 
or to be more exact, say thirty-five years, we have never adulterated 
our product, never skimmed the milk, or in anyway permitted any of 
our product to be contaminated. That our product is perfectly pure 
is beyond all question. 

The Chairman. I have been in your factory at Brewsters and seen 
the simple process, which is merely extracting the water and putting 
in sugar to preserve it. Is not that about all there is of it? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes, sir; that is it. I think there was a request made 
that our chemist should come here at the same time that I did; but we 
have no chemist; we have no occasion for a chemist. 

The Chairman. What are the names of the gentlemen connected 
with your company? 

Mr. Rogers. Mr. Church, Mr. Eno, and Mr. Lewis. 

The Chairman. What kind of sugar do you use? 

Mr. Rogers. Nothing but the finest granulated sugar, made espe- 
cially for us, free from adulteration and all coloring matter. I jjre- 
sume you are aware that coloring matters are sometimes used in 
sugars? 

The Chairman. Yes; for bleaching them. 

Mr. Rogers. Our stipulation that there shall be no coloring matter 
in the sugar dates back many years. We do not go into the open 
market and buy sugar, but get from one source sugar that is guar- 
anteed to us to be the best refined sugar. 

The Chairman. As I have said, it was stated before our committee 
that the milk was skimmed before being condensed, but I do not 
thin«k the man who made the statement knew anj^thing personally on 
the subject; and as I am somewhat familiar with the process carried 
on in your factories from having lived in the neighborhood of one of 
them in the summer time, I thought I should like to have you come 
here and make a statement to the committee about your methods. 

Mr. Rogers. You can readily understand, Mr. Chairman, that no 
reputable manufacturer, of large experience especially, can afford to 
adulterate the milk, because if he did so it would be known, not only 
to the superintendent of the factories, but to other manufacturers. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 441 

The Chairman. And the farmers whom you perhaps watch would 
watch you in turn. 

Mr. Rogers. Yes; and adulterations that are discovered would 
result in prosecutions. There have been some unquestionably in this 
city during the past six months; there have been prosecutions for 
using skimmed or partly skimmed milk. 

The testimony given before this committee during the last days has 
been very interesting to me, as I listened to it, because I have very 
strong ideas on the subject of adulterations of milk and how to protect 
that article above every other. I think it is a crime to adulterate or 
tamper with milk, because so many infants depend on it altogether 
for food. 

The Chairman. And invalids. 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. I presume that 50 per cent of the children of 
the country to-day are being brought up on artificial food, that is, 
milk and cereals. 

In the case of condensed milk, if you take the butter fats away, the 
child is being starved to death without the parent knowing what 
is the matter. For that reason we make it a crime in this State to 
first skim milk before condensing it. It is prohibited. In other coun- 
tries it is not prohibited 

Years ago we stopped Europeans from bringing such products into 
this country and marketing them here. We are prepared at all times 
to prosecute or secure the prosecution of such cases. If we know 
positively of such cases, we will follow them to the end. 

Some years ago some parties in your own State, Mr. Chairman, 
were putting out an adulterated condensed milk and we had occasion 
to take action in the matter. When they would market their con- 
densed milk in States that had no laws for the protection of the people, 
I would follow every shipment. Where there were boards of health 
I would notify those boards; and where there were no such boards I 
would notify the State governments; and in that way we hurt them, 
particularly in the States of the South, in which no means of exami- 
nation had been provided by law, for the product which these people 
were sending there. Had we not done as we did the children who 
would have been fed on such condensed milk would have been starved 
to death. 

We have taken every means as honest manufacturers to prevent 
the marketing of products of that kind. I wrote to the governors of 
the various States to which those goods were sent, after first satisfy- 
ing myself by chemical analysis, by the best chemists I could find, of 
the facts of which I informed them. 

[Exhibiting a paper. ] Here is a copy of the paper I sent to those 
governors of the various States to which those goods were sent; and 
you can readily see that that was a dangerous thing for a corporation 
to do — to send out such documents — unless they had something back 
of it in the way of facts. 

The Chairman. I see that it states that one of those condensed 
milks contained less than one-quarter of 1 per cent of animal fat — 
thirty-six one hundredths. 

Mr. Rogers. Yes; and a child taking it would be starved to death. 

The Chairman. If you will give us a copy of that affidavit, I shall 
be glad to have it inserted in the record as a part of your testimony. 
Still, you are under oath as it is. 

Mr. Rogers. Yes, but still I should like that to appear as an affi- 
davit made as of this date. 



442 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Very well. There are other large concerns in the 
country in the same business I suppose, or are the others generally 
small? 

Mr. Rogers. In this country there is no other large concern outside 
of the Anglo-Swiss Company, which is a foreign corporation. They 
have a large capital. They have a large concern on the other side and 
two in this country. 

The Chairman. They have one at Dixon, 111., I believe? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. The only fault we have to find with them is 
that they are a foreign corporation. 

The Chairman. But in the interests of justice and fair play you 
say they are making the same class of goods that you are making? 

Mr. Rogers. Beyond a doubt; and that also applies to another cor- 
poration — a Michigan corporation of which General Alger is president. 
The adulteration comes from small concerns that branch out and 
mark their goods with fictitious names — the names of fictitious com- 
panies. One of the great troubles with our present laws is that they 
do not reach that class of people. 

The Chairman. Would you favor a national law on the subject? 

Mr. Rogers. Most decidedly. 

The Chairman. Either to prohibit the condensing of skimmed milk 
or to compel those who condense to sell it as such? 

Mr. Rogers. I should prohibit its condensation, for the reason that 
the temptation is so great. Thej^ can take one-half per cent of butter 
fat, for instance, and still make a fairly good product; but the honest 
and fair manufacturer is not being properly treated. 

The Chairman. And the consumer is not getting what he buys, as 
he understands. 

Mr. Rogers. No. 

I show you now a statement of one of our plants. (We have the 
same statement for all our plants.) I call your attention to this only 
to answer your question. You see here [exhibiting] that the first col- 
umn of this statement contains the name of the farmer, the next 
column the lacteal test, the next column the cream test, the next the 
butter-fat test. This is the milk that we are supplying to-day for the 
family trade, and in that you will see that the butter-fat test runs at 
an average of 4.7 per cent. 

The Chairman. Yes; I see that some run as high as 5 per cent and 
some as low as 4.4. 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. 

The Chairman. At what place is this? 

Mr. Rogers. At Oxford, in the State of New York. That is only 
a fair average as to the butter fats. We have them run as high as 6 
per cent. The laws of the State of New York state that milk is bad 
milk if it contains less than 12 per cent of milk solids or more than 
88 per cent of water or fluids. Our average of solids is 13.47 per cent. 
The law also states that good milk must contain not less than 3 per 
cent of fats. We are receiving milk that contains an average of 4.7. 
We could turn that difference into butter and still keep within the 
law so far as condensed milk ts concerned. 

The Chairman. But, as you say, in handling such an immense 
amount and doing such an immense business it would be impossible 
to do it without your customers finding it out? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. And the reputation that we have been forty 
years building up would be gone, and we should have attached to us 
the odium of starving hundreds of thousands of infants throughout 
the United States and many parts of Europe. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 443 

So, you see, as I remarked before, the only absolute security is to 
prohibit altogether the condensation of defective milk. 

On the question of a national law I would like to say a word, and I 
wish to do it with all due respect to the local board of health, whose 
work is very accurate, and the State board of health, which is desirous 
that the people of New York should have pure milk, a desire in which 
we heartily join. New York, to-da}^ is getting the best milk in the 
world. I have had very many years' experience in this matter, and I 
have no hesitation in sajdng that the milk supplied to the families of 
New York is the best produced and sold in any State. But, Mr. Chair- 
man, the dairy commissioners of your own State (Illinois) first dis- 
covered that adulterated milk was being marketed in this city to the 
extent of tens of thousands of cases within the past six months; and 
the cases were taken up and prosecuted. The local board of health, 
which has always been very active on the question of milk, also later 
took up some cases and prosecuted them. 

When they find in a man's store several thousand cases of milk, they 
have only one offense against that man. He sold a can of condensed 
milk made from skimmed milk. They prosecute that man. He is 
tried and the court fines him. He is not allowed to sell his milk here. 
Well, he simply takes it out of his store and sends it into the next 
State, where he sells it. 

Being at the head of a large corporation and finding it necessary 
that all should produce a good article, I naturally keep in touch with 
those things. I knew that that milk went out of the State, but I 
could not watch it sufficiently close to determine whether it went to 
New Jersey or to Pennsylvania or to Connecticut; but it did go out 
of this State and has not been sold in this State since; that is to say, 
not under the brand or name by which it was known; but it was sold 
somewhere. There are no means of reaching such cases. If there 
were a national board I should simply notify the national board that 
so many cases were condemned in this State. 

The Chairman. That would make it uniform? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. It was not the fault of the officials here. 

The Chairman. They drove it out of New York? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes ; they drove it out of here, but they do not go far 
enough; they can not. 

The Chairman. The capture ends at the State line? 

Mr. Rogers. Yes. 

The following is a copy of one of the affidavits exhibited by the 
witness and made part of his testimony in this proceeding: 

State of New^ York, City of Neiv York, County of Netv York, ss: 
William J. Rogers, being duly sworn, doth depose and say, that he 
is secretary of the New York Condensed Milk Company, a corpora- 
tion organized and doing business under the laws of the State of New 
Jersey, and operating factories for the condensing of milk in the 
States of New York and Illinois; that he is personally acquainted 
with all the details incident to the manufacture of this product, and 
hereby certifies that the milk received and used at its various facto- 
ries is the product of the YQvy best dairies, and is of the finest quality 
obtainable in the United States ; that the percentage of butter fats in 
this milk exceeds in all instances the percentage required by the laws 
of these States'; and that no portion of the butter fats or other valu- 
able constituents in the milk are in any wise removed from the milk 
during the various processes incident to its handling and manufac 
ture; that the only constituent which is removed is water, and this 



444 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

for the purpose of reducing in volume. He further certifies that the 
only foreign substance added to the milk is pure, refined, granulated 
sugar of the best quality, which is used solely for the purpose of 
preservation. He also further certifies that no other substance has 
ever been added to the i3roducts of the New York Condensed Milk 
Company, as marketed under the labels bearing its name, and also 
states that the New York Condensed Milk Company never bought or 
otherwise obtained any glucose, and never, under any circumstances, 
has used this article or a similar product for any purpose whatever. 
It therefore naturally follows that the brands of the New York Con- 
densed Milk Company will be found by careful and proper analysis 
to contain the percentage of butter fats that they should, and that, 
furthermore, it is impossible to find glucose or any other foreign sub- 
stance, except pure sugar as herein stated, in any of the brands bear- 
ing the name of the New York Condensed Milk Company, in view of 
the fact that in the manufacture of the milk none has been added. 

Wm. J. Rogers. 
Sworn to before me this 17th day of March, 1897. 

Alex Wiley, Notary Public. 

TESTIMONY OF CAVALIERE GUIDO ROSSATI. 

Cavaliere Guido Rossati, sworn, and examined. 

The Chairman. Will you please state your residence and occupa- 
tion? 

Mr. Rossati. I am in charge of a laboratory at No. 17 State street. 
New York City, established two or three years ago by the depart- 
ment of agriculture of the Government of Italy for the convenience 
of Italian importers here, for the analysis of Italian wines and oils 
that arrive in this country and that are voluntarily submitted to me 
by importers. 

I desire to state that I have come before your committee, Mr. 
Chairman, in order to say something about the experience I have had 
in this line of business, and also, if I may take the liberty, to make a 
few recommendations. 

My business is that of a wine expert, in the employ of the Italian 
department of agriculture. I am a diplome, I may say, of a wine 
school at Conegliano, in Italy, which is a superior agricultural school. 
My mission is to analyze Italian wines and Italian olive oils that are 
submitted to me, as I have said, by the importers, voluntarily on 
their part, and to grant certificates of analysis stating the purity of 
the articles examined, if that results from the analysis, of course. 

I present for the information of the committee a sheet of regula- 
tions under which the work is conducted. 

The paper is as follows : 

REGULATIONS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ITALIAN WHINES AND THE ISSU- 
ING OF CERTIFICATES RELATING THERETO BY THE CENOTECHNIC 
STATION OF THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT AT 17 STATE STREET, NEW 
YORK. 

The oenotechnic station of the Italian Government at New York will issiie, on 
the request of the importer, certificates of the analysis of Italian wines in 
accordance with the following rules: 

1. The importer will notify in writing the Government representative of the 
arrival of the wines, indicating the source, (quantity, marks, and the vessel by 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. , 445 

which they came. He should state at the same time whether the sampling is to 
be made on the wharf, custom-house stores, or in his own warehouse. 

2. The importer must allow the samples to be taken by the Government repre- 
sentative in sufficient quantity from each cask in order that the representative 
may make the chemical analysis, and should also furnish him with the necessary 
assistance for opening the casks in order to obtain the samples. The representa- 
tive of the Government will apply to the cask a label showing that the wine is in 
the course of examination. This label should be so applied as to prevent any 
change of the liquid in the cask. 

3. The Government representative will deliver to the importer a certificate 
indicating the result of the analysis qualitative, quantitative, and microscopic, 
upon which also will be stated the name of the vessel in which the wine was 
imported, the date of its arrival, the marks, and the quantity of the parcel, and, 
when the importer so desires, the name of the shipper as well, 

4. If the result of the analysis shows the wine pure, clean, and healthy, the 
Government will apply to the cask or to each case or package a label testifying 
to the purity and genuineness of the wine. This label will be so placed that it 
will be necessary to destroy it in opening the cask or the case. In case of a 
change of the wine from one cask to anotlier, or any other operation that requires 
a change of package, the merchant will give notice to the Government represent- 
ative in order to obtain new labels, which will be issued upon presentation of the 
original. 

.'). If the analysis shows that the wine is adulterated or defective, the Govern- 
ment representative will deliver a certificate stating the adulteration or the 
defeat, and with this certificate indorsed by the Italian consul the importer may 
make reclamation upon the shipper for damages and expenses according to law; 
the sale of wines recognized to be adulterated with substances injurious to health 
being severely prohibited by the laws of Italy and the United States. Here the 
attention of merchants in general is called also to the following article from the 
Revised Statutes of the United States: 

"Sec. 3449.— Whenever any person ships, transports or removes any spirituous 
or fermented liquors or wines, under any other than the proper name or brand 
known to the trade as designating the kind and (juality of the contents of the 
casks or packages containing the same, or causes such act to be done, he shall for- 
feit said liquors or wines and casks or packages, and be subject to pay a fine of 
$500." 

6. The importer who wishes to bottle Italian wines which have been found pure 
and genuine by the Government representative here, and who desires to apply to 
the bottles a special label showing that this is the case, should give notice to the 
officer in order that the operation may be made under his superintendence. This 
label will be so applied to the bottle that it will be destroyed when the cork is 
removed. 

7. The tax for the analysis and certificate will be $2. Upon the payment of the 
necessary expense the labels showing the purity and genuineness of the wine 
analyzed will be furnished by the (jenotechnic station. This can not be placed 
upon the cask or case or bottles except by the representative or one of his 
employees, for whom he will be responsible. 

8. The certificate of the analysis of each parcel of wine will be published in the 
bulletin of the local Italian chamber of commerce, and in case there is none such, 
a copy will be displayed in the office of said chamber and another in that of the 
cenotechnic station of the Italian Government. The possessors of siieh certifi- 
cates may use them for purposes of advertising, but it is understood that they 
refer only to the parcel for which the certificates were obtained. 

9. The wines certified pure are under the supervision of the superintendent of 
the station, and the technical operations that the importer may think necessary to 
permit upon the same in order to render them acceptable to the consumer, and 
for their better preservation, must be supervised by the Government representa- 
tive, in order that nothing may be done to injure their character and healthful- 
ness. For this reason the superintendent must have free access during office 
hours to the warehouses of merchants to whom these certificates are delivered, 
and if he thinks it necessary he may repeat the analysis without expense to the 
merchants. 

10. The certificates of impure or defective wines in cask to use against the 
shipper will be delivered only for parcels of which the samples were taken by 
the Government representative on the wharf before the merchandise was put into 
tne stores of the merchants. 

11. It will be well for the importers who intend to have their wines examined 
by the (enotechnic station at the same time that they send their orders or accept- 
ances of consignments, to transmit to the shipper a copy of these regulations. 



446 , ADULTEEATION OP FOOD PRODUCTS. 

12. The importers who ask from the Government office the analysis of their 
wines must at the same time make a declaration that they agree to accept the 
conditions established by these regulations. Any failure to comply with this stip- 
ulation will deprive them of the right to further application to the office and also 
of making use of the certificates previously issued. 

A copy of these regulations will be posted in the office of the Italian chamber 
of commerce and of the Italian Government oenotechnic station in New York, 
and also in the offices of the importers, for whom the work is done, if they so 
desire. 

' The Chairman. I understand you to say that when wine comes here 
from Italy you follow those instructions? 

Mr. RossATi. Yes; if the importer comes to me and wants an 
analysis and wants the goods stamped with an official guaranty of 
their purity, I analyze them and stamp them accordingly, provided 
the analysis shows them to be pure. 

The Chairman. But you do not do it unless the importers want it 
done? 

Mr. ROSSATI. No. 

The Chairman. You give the goods a sort of character from the 
Italian Government? 

Mr. RosSATi. Yes, or a guaranty. It gives me pleasure to state as 
regards Italian wines that I have not found one of them adulterated. 
I may have occasionally found a wine a little out of condition, but not 
one adulterated. I assure you there is not one Italian wine imported 
into this country that is adulterated, and therefore I wish to take 
exception to a statement made here the other day by a verj'^ clever 
chemist, Dr. Wyatt, who stated that there was an enormous adulter- 
ation of imported wines. These adulterations in a great many foreign 
wines, aniline dyes, are used for coloring purposes. 

The Chairman. I think you misunderstand the purport of his 
remarks. I think he said that they were adulterated after they were 
brought in here. 

Mr. RossATi. The report I read said that he stated there were 
enormous adulterations of imported wines. 

The Chairman. Well, he did not mean by that that it was done in 
your country. 

Mr. RossATi. That remark would do great damage to imported 
wines if not corrected. I know very well the laws of my country for 
the protection of our trade, and we have very strict laws that punish 
not only with fines but with imprisonment anyone who adulterates 
wine. Wine is a staple article of consumption in Italy and we take 
care that it is made pure. Besides there is no incentive to adultera- 
tion, as wine is very cheap in Italy, so that there is no reason for 
adulteration. 

An article that I find much adulterated is olive oil, which is chiefly 
adulterated with cotton-seed oil, but the adulterations are made 
chiefly in this country. The foreign packages and foreign trade- 
marks are imitated, and the imitators do not have to pay duty or 
freight on the mixed article. You can not bring to law the people 
who make these adulterations, because they use fictitious names, and 
no individual's interest is specially affected, but the general interests 
are affected. 

For instance, a man here puts up a mixture of olive oil and cotton- 
seed oil, and puts on the package the name of a firm that does not 
exist at all, abroad. I think it ought to be the duty of the Gos'^ern- 
ment to stop that, because it is a fraud on the consumer and also a 
loss to the revenue. In England anything like that would not be 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 447 

tolerated, because they have there an act called ' ' The Merchandise 
Marks Act," which prevents anything of that kind. 

I do not condemn the consumption of cotton-seed oil as such, but it 
should be sold for what it is. It costs 30 cents a gallon, whereas olive 
oil costs $1.40 a gallon. Of course, cotton-seed oil has not got the 
fruit qualities nor the hygienic qualities of olive oil. 

The counterfeiting of labels and trade-marks is extensive. The 
counterfeiters will take an American wine and put on it the labels of 
a foreign wine. 

The Chairman. We have had a good deal of evidence before us on 
that subject. We had before the committee yesterday one hundred 
or more different counterfeit labels. The wine men who import their 
goods feel that as they pay duty their competitors ought to pay duty. 

Mr. RossATi. Yes. The foreign people engaged in this trade, and 
who suffer from these counterfeits, have no way of protecting them- 
selves. If laws were passed which would secure correct labeling it 
would be good for the consumers, the people of this country, and 
would be only a matter of justice to the foreign maker of the article 
that is imported into this country. 

I therefore favor the proposed pure-food bill — the bill called in the 
Senate the Faulkner bill and in the House of Representatives the 
Brosius bill. The i^rovisions of that bill, while protecting the interests 
and health of American consumers, will undoubtedly be of great 
benefit to the legitimate import trade in all lines of alimentarj^ goods 
and beverages that are subject to adulteration, imitation, or counter- 
feiting of trade-marks and labels. 

As to olive oil, notwithstanding the fact that the production of that 
article is increasing, new countries having added their contribution to 
the supply — among these newcomers being the State of California — 
yet it is every day becoming more difficult to get this article pure; 
and notwithstanding the increasing demand for this most useful and 
healthy condiment, we hear of difficulties on the part of growers to 
sell their oHve oil at fair prices. 

What is the reason of this? It is because of the adulteration with 
other oils, especially, as I have said, with cotton -seed oil. The incen- 
tive to adulterate is great, because while, as already stated, the cheap- 
est eatable olive oil costs, duty paid, at least $1.40 a gallon, the cotton- 
seed oil can be had at only 30 cents. The production of cotton-seed 
oil, from almost nothing forty j^ears ago, reaches now over sixty mil- 
lion gallons yearly in this country alone. Out of this great amount, 
do you ever hear of a drop of cotton-seed oil being sold bj^ the retailer 
for what it is? Never. It is always sold either as salad or more fre- 
quently blended with a little olive oil, and sold as "olive oil." 

Cotton-seed oil may be a useful article for a good many purposes, 
but as a dietary article is greatly inferior to olive oil, of which it 
does not possess the fruitiness or other hygienic properties. However, 
I should not complain of it if it were sold for what it is. The use of 
cotton oil as such by those who like it is not a thing that can be 
objected to. What I complain of and what I think unjust is that it 
should be sold as another article which costs five or six times as much, 
because then a fraud is committed on the consumer. 

In Italy the adulteration of olive oil lias of late been rendered much 
more difficult than in other countries of Europe b}^ a high dutj^ on 
cotton-seed oil, which reduces the profit of the operation, and if done 
at all it takes place in bonded Avarehouses. 

But in this country such adulteration is i)racticed on a large scale. 



448 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Foreign tins and trade-mark designs are imitated and filled with 
mixed oil, wliich is then sold under a fictitious name, as " Sublime," 
"Extra Fine," or simply "Fine Olive Oil." These frauds are being 
committed with impunity, and are greatly prejudicial to honest trade. 
As the names used in such cases are purely fictitious, the operators 
of such frauds can not with existing laws be brought to justice, while 
it ought to be the duty of the Government to prosecute such cases in 
the interest of the commonwealth and in its own interest also, because 
the revenue loses money in this way. 

Other articles that are subject to imitation and counterfeiting of 
trade-marks and labels, rather than to adulteration, are wines, 
liquors, cordials, soaps, etc. I think that the branding of similar 
goods made in this country in such a way as to induce the public to 
believe that they have been imported, or the refilling of a package 
used for foreign goods with a homemade article, is a fraud committed 
at the expense of the consumer, who should be given what he demands 
and not be imposed upon. This is also a cause of considerable loss 
to the revenue, which should not be tolerated any further. I under- 
stand that the Brosius and Faulkner bill proposes to do away with 
this evil, and protect legitimate interests in a legitimate manner. 
This bill should, therefore, be indorsed by all honest people. 

An Italian philosopher of some centuries ago said: "Quidaliud 
sumus nisi ad ipsum unde alimur?" ("What else are we if not of 
what we feed upon?") It follows that we will have a better chance to 
keep pure, sound, and healthy when the purity of our food and 
drinks will be better looked after and controlled than it is at the 
present time. There is pure food enough in nature to feed many 
more millions than the present world's population, and we should 
insist on getting it pure and in obtaining the enactment of laws that 
will put a stop to the greed and malpractice of unscrupulous dealers. 
These, under the specious pretense of cheapening an article, or 
stimulating its demand, or preventing it from spoiling, slowly poison 
the people, undermining that remarkable health and energy of the 
American race which, combined with its firmness of purpose and 
intelligence, has made its name respected and feared. 

Desirable as it is that in matters dietetic legislation should inter- 
fere as little as possible, it is nevertheless the supreme duty of the 
legislator to see that the liberty granted to commerce for the honest 
and vital purpose of competition should not degenerate into failure 
to afford that protection to which the people's health is entitled. 

The motto of the Roman senators was: "Salus populi suprema lex 
esto" (" The health of the people must be the supreme law "). I hope 
that the Senators of a country none the less great will not make less 
of this principle and will use their influence and ability in legislating 
so as to prevent that injury to the public health that would result 
from the evils inseparable from adulterated foods and drinks. 

TESTIMONY OF EDWARD H. JENKINS. 

Edv^ard H. Jenkins, sworn and examined. 
The Chairman. "Where do you live? 
Professor Jenkins. In New Haven. 
The Chairman. What is your business? 

Professor Jenkins. I am vice-director of the Connecticut Agricul- 
tural Station. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. ■1-19 

The Chairman. What is youi- profession? 

Professor Jenkins. I am an agricultural chemist. 

The Chairman. Will you state briefly what training you have had. 

Professor Jenkins. I was graduated at Yale University ; took three 
years of gi-aduate studies in the Sheffield Scientific School; took my 
doctor's degree there; studied one year in the University of Leipzig 
and the Forest School at Tharendt in Germany. Since 1877 I have 
been connected with the Agricultural Station in New Haven as chemist 
and vice-director. During the last four years I have been in general 
charge of the examination of food products under a State food law, 
the execution of which rests with the agricultural station. 

The Chairman. Have you given the subject of food adulterations 
some attention in your studies and in your practice? 

Professor Jenkins. I have. I had done so prior to the past four 
years; and of course during the past four years I have been required 
to give special attention to food jjroducts as they are found in the 
Connecticut market, examining a good many hundred samples each 
year of most of the food products which are on sale there. 

The Chairman. I Avisli you would l>e good enough to state briefly 
some of the difficulties you have had, or at least some of the features 
of the work which it would be instructive for this committee to know. 

Professor Jenkins. I have paid a good deal of attention to the sub- 
ject of food adulteration for a good many years, and examined many 
samples from time to time. 

It is my opinion that the amount of food adulteration in our State 
has increased (up to the present time at least) with business compe- 
t tion and the demand foi- cheap goods and the necessity for utilizing 
waste products. Cocoanut shells are no longer rejected, as they used 
to be, because they will make good spices. Such things as the hulls 
of pease, and such things as pepper shells are used in making spices. 
Prune stones we find used in making coffee. As to all those waste 
products there is an increasing tendency to introduce them into food 
products. 

At the same time I think that the amount of adulteration which is 
distinctly and obviously prejudicial to health has decreased, owing 
to the increased activity of the health officers and inspectors. So that 
we may say that at the present time food adulteration is chiefly inju- 
rious in demoralizing honest trade, and in working petty frauds on 
the consumer, rather than being largely injurious to the public health. 
In our four years' experience in Connecticut we have only found a 
single article in any food product which we could sa}^ was distinctly 
and absolutely a poison, and that is Marsh's yellow, a dye used in 
verj^ small amounts probably in the adulteration of mustard. 

Of course there are the antiseptics, which are used pretty largely, 
about which there may be doubt. 

It is impossible to give an accurate definition of the word poison. 
You may say that in one sense even the old-time antiseptics, salt, 
vinegar, and wood smoke, are to a certain extent poisonous — that is, 
they can be used in quantity or degree sufficient to work serious 
harm. Antiseptics are considered by some to be poisonous, whereas 
in small doses they may not be so, and certainly to certain persons in 
sound health are not at all injurious. 

There are coloring matters found in catsups and some temperance 
drinks, about which there may be dispute as to whether they are 
poisonous or not in the doses in which they are administered. 

If I may return to the subject of antiseptics, if you care for it I can 
F P 29 



450 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

give jon a brief resume of some of the things we have examined and 
of the extent of the adulteration in them. 

The Chairman. We should be very glad indeed if you would do so. 

Professor Jenkins. Flour, which is the "staff of life," we have not 
found in a single case, in Connecticut, to be adulterated. We have 
examined some hundreds of samples, but never found a case of 
adulterated flour. In one or two samples, however, referred to us 
from other States for examination, we have found considerable quan- 
tities of corn flour. That is of course harmless, but it damages the 
baking quality and the eating quality of the bread. 

The Chairman. If it is the corn flour that is the product of the glu- 
cose factory, the gluten and sugar being all out of it, it will be of very 
little value. 

Professor Jenkins. It is a starch product. It has the same quality 
as starchy substances; bread will not rise so well with it. 

The Chairman. And the gluten is largely out of it ? 

Professor Jenkins. Yes. You have heard the story of the starting 
of that industry, furnishing corn flour for the adulteration of white 
flour, and how it seemed to have been stopped by the Spanish war 
indirectly, which, if true, was one of its blessings in disguise. 

The Chairman. There may have been something in that, but I will 
state for your information that a year and a half ago I introduced in 
Congress a bill which was passed and which put that description of 
flour under regulations similar to those concerning oleomargarine. 

Professor .Ienkins. Requiring a revenue stamp and branding? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Professor Jenkins. That is undoubtedly what stopped the thing. 
The other was only a matter of rumor. I thought that that new law 
was ostensibly a revenue-raising measure, but it no doubt stopped 
that business. 

The Chairman. So far as concerns the raising of revenue, I will 
state for your information that this particular measure does not yield 
enough money to pay for the collecting. I will also add that since its 
passage the Government has confiscated some 12,000 barrels of the 
stuff; and our exports have increased, you will be glad to know, by 
50 per cent. 

Professor Jenkins. I am glad to hear that. 

The Chairman. And the evidence before the committee is that that 
is because we have established a reputation for making honest flour. 

Professor Jenkins. Yes. If the thing had gone on it would have 
practically ruined our trade. 

To continue my observations with reference to our tests: I will say 
that in the matter of beef we have not touched that article There 
has been so much talk of "embalmed beef" that we thought other 
people might attend to that. 

In one or two chickens brought from the West we found borax. 

In sausages we found borax added as a preservative and in consid- 
erable quantity. In a number of determinations which we have made 
we have found 1 pound of sausages to contain from 8 to over 50 grains. 
That would be equivalent to seven-tenths of 1 per cent of borax. 

Oysters are frequently treated with borax in considerable quantity. 
Out of 75 samples of fresh oysters we found 13 so treated, and in those 
we found from 5^ to over 38 grains of borax to a pint of oysters. Oys- 
ters, as you know, are very perishable. They are used for food for 
invalids and must be very fresh. By treating an oj^ster with borax 
he will pass for several days as if in the bloom of youth. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 451 

We found cream frequently to contain borax. 

Of molasses, we have examined a good many hundred samples for 
the dairy commissioner, who, curiously enough, is charged with the 
inspection of molasses, and we found that for an average of foiir or 
five years about 20 per cent of the New Orleans molasses and some 
sold as Ponce molasses (it is not confined to the New Orleans article) 
contained considerable quantities of glucose sirup. Some of the 
samples seemed to be made entirely of glucose sirup. 

In the matter of lard, out of 162 samples examined we found only 
36 of them to be adulterated. Of course there are substitutes on the 
market, which are sold under their true name or sold as substitutes, 
but outside of those about 36 per cent of those sold contain some 
cotton-seed oil and beef stearine. 

Jellies are extensively adulterated ; more than one-half of the sam- 
ples that we have examined were so. 

There is one firm which makes a number of brands of jellies — 
"orange," "strawberry," "grape," etc. They are all made out of 
starchy paste sweetened with glucose, flavored with artificial flavors, 
and colored with coal-tar dyes, and are kept from molding with sali- 
cylic acid. They may be called gems — works of art; tJiey are pre- 
serves as distinguished from jellies. Very much the larger part are 
adulterated by the addition of artificial coloring matters, artificial 
flavors, or salicylic acid. We class as adulterated anything that con- 
tains these modern antiseptics. 

Coffee has been very largely adulterated — I mean the cheaper grades 
of ground coffee. The coffee that is sold whole is not often adulter- 
ated. We have, however, found whole coffee containing crushed i^ease 
and chicory and artificial coffee, of which I shall speak later; but 
the ground coffees, selling for 25 cents a pound and under, have been 
extensively adulterated with chicory, with crushed pease, with arti- 
ficial coffee, and with what we call "coffee iDcllets." Imitation cof- 
fee is wheat middlings or flour, and possibly a little gum, molded into 
cylinders, perhaps the size of the little finger, and roasted. Then 
that is crushed, and each fragment has the curve of the cylinder and 
does not look entirely unlike crushed coffee. Besides that, there are 
added pellets — pea hulls, which are made into pellets a little larger 
than pea heads. 

There was formerly a firm that made artificial coffee beans. That 
[exhibiting] is an artificial coffee bean, the old "original" bean of 
the kind. Those beans contained no coffee, but thej^ were molded 
and looked like the original thing. That business I judge is now 
unprofitable, for we no longer find them in the market. We got some 
of those from a bankrupt stock. There [exhibiting a bottle] is a coffee 
adulterated with pease, chicory, and imitation coffee. 

The Chairman. This Avould require a microscopical analysis to 
determine that it was not genuine coffee? 

Professor Jenkins. It would require either a microscopical analysis 
or the examination of some one thoroughly familiar with it. Our 
microscopist can j)ick it out pretty well by the naked eye, but has to 
fortify himself with a microscopical examination. 

The Chairman. That looks like a coffee bean that has been molded? 

Prof essor Jenkins. Yes; but a coffee man would spot that instantly. 
There is no crack on one side. 

There [exhibiting another bottle] are pellets that are made of pea 
hulls, which are used for putting into ground coffee. There [exhibit- 



452 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

ing another bottle] are Canada pease, roasted, which have been picked 
out from a sample of whole coffee. 

Here [exhibiting still another] is what you would call an "imita- 
tion coffee," made from a wheat product — middlings or bran. 

There [exhibiting another] is a jelly made of starch paste with 
glucose, colored with coal-tar dye, flavored with chemicals, and pre- 
served with salicylic acid. 

The Chairman. There is not even a seed in it. 

Professor Jenkins. I have spoken of the adulteration of spices. 
That is a very petty fraud, but carried on on a large scale. 

There [exhibiting a sample] is a sample of "Star Mills pepper." It 
consists of acids, charcoal, and some starch. That is furnished by 
the manufacturers of spice grinders' supplies — furnished only to the 
trade — furnished to meet the competition for a cheap article. 

Here [exhibiting] is a sample of cayenne pepper, made by the same 
class of people. That is made of acids dyed, probably with an aniline 
dye. I have not tested for the dye. It is intended for cayenne pep- 
per. I doubt if there is any cayenne pepper whatever in it; but it is 
used for extending the genuine pepper. 

There [exhibiting another bottle] is a sample of mustard contain- 
ing 20 per cent of plaster of Paris. 

In 1896 we found over 80 per cent of the cheap ground coffees 
adulterated. 

We publish each year in our reports the facts, such as where we 
bouglit the sample, whether it had any label, who the manufacturer 
was, and whether we found it adulterated or not. We let the facts 
be known. We distribute 17,000 copies of this report through the 
State of Connecticut, and have a great many inquiries from selling 
agents, who are quite willing to show up the sins of their competitors 
while holding their thumbs over their own. We have inquiries also 
from retail grocers. So our work in this line is a kind of "home 
missionary " work. 

In 1897 of the coffees examined we found 70 per cent adulterated; 
in 1898 we found only 40 per cent adulterated, and in 1899 we found 
only 20 per cent adulterated. 

We do not claim that all that improvement has come from the exe- 
cution of our j)ure-food law, because the price of genuine coffee has, 
I believe, gone down very much, so that it pays less to adulterate it 
than it did, but we believe that part of that improvement is due to the 
publication of the facts with regard to food adulteration. 

Beer we have tested only with regard to antiseptics. Out of 40 
samples which we tested 29 were free from antiseptics and 11 con- 
tained salicylic acid. 

As to ales, we examined only 7 of those. Of the 7 examined 6 were 
pure and 1 had salicylic acid, or at least 6 were free from salicylic 
acid and 1 contained salicylic acid. 

We have a pretty efficient law with regard to adulteration of tea, 
and Japan also has one, I think; so that while we examined several 
hundred samples of tea we have not found one in which there was 
any evidence of the presence of thorn leaves. In one or two cases 
there were just a few leaves, but so few that they might have got in 
by accident. There was nothing that looked like adulteration. 

Tomato " ketchups" are extensively made, as the labels say, " from 
selected ripe tomatoes," but it is largely the cores and the skins of 
the tomato that are so used. Those are cooked, strained, and sent in 
bulk to be dyed with eosin, a coal-tar dye, and preserved with sali- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 453 

cylic acid or benzoic acid. Outof about 45 samples that we examined 
last year, I think G were free from antiseptics, 27 contained salicylic 
acid, and 8 contained benzoic acid. 

In the case of olive oil we found about one-half the brands to be of 
pure olive oil, of a better or poorer quality, and about one-half were 
mixtures of cotton-seed oil or oil of sesame. Cotton-seed oil is also 
bottled as "sa^ad oil," and makes a pretty fair salad oil for anyone 
who likes that kind of oil. 

I do not know but that I have now given you a general idea of the 
extent of adulteration. We have examined a good many things. 

As to temperance drinks, we have been examining tliose this sum- 
mer with considerable interest. They are extensively dyed with 
aniline dyes and flavored with artificial flavors. Some of them are 
pretty good, and some of them are very bad. There is an artificial 
raspbei'ry fiavor 

The Chairman. Which smells like raspberry? 

Professor Jenkins. Yes, it does; but I should distinguish it from 
the genuine. There is soe sthing about it that looks and smells like 
the original berrj^, but it is not that berry. 

The Chairman. What is it colored with? 

Professor Jenkins. With a coal-tar dye. It is made up from four 
different preparations, sent to us, or sent to an agent of the agricul- 
tural station, purchased for us from a company that is in the business 
of making these things. The different ingredients were sent to us 
and we followed the directions that come for making the thing up. 
It is a sugar sirup, to which is added a flavoring which is a vile thing 
in itself, but not bad smelling; then a fruit acid; then there is a foam 
which we have not examined. They make it of soapwort and white 
of egg and various things put in to make the mixture froth up in 
the cup. 

I can not at this moment put my hand on some pieces of flannel 
which I had dyed from the dye contained in a glass of soda water. 
The quantity of dye that is contained in one glass of soda water 
would dye a piece of flannel four inches square a very brilliant 
aniline color. 

I think that gives a fair idea of the condition of things in that one 
State (Connecticut). We feel that we have gone far enough to Ivuow 
the condition of adulteration matters there. 

I should like to say a few words in regard to the use of antiseptics 
and our position in i-egard to them. There is a great deal of con- 
flicting evidence witli regard to their healthf ulness, which, it seems 
to me, is totally' irrelevant to the question at issue. 

It is unquestionable that salicylic acid and borax are used in medi- 
cine, and recommended by physicians, and, we must believe, ai-e valu- 
able remedies in their place. So, also, they are used in food in very 
considerable quantities, and certainl}^ take the place, as far as pre- 
serving food is concerned, of salt, and wood smoke, and vinegar, 
which were the old-time accepted antiseptics. I doubt whether they 
are any more poisonous than salt, wood smoke, and vinegar may be 
to certain persons. As I said before, a poison is a thing that you can 
not define. A thing is a medicine (that is, it is a good thing) in one 
dose; it is harmless in another dose; injurious in another dose, and 
a poison in another and larger dose. Strychnine is poisonous in 
certain quantities; so is arsenic. A person can poison or kill himself 
even with vinegar, if he takes enough of it. But it seems to me that 
that does not touch the point. 



454 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 

The point is this, that every man's system is a law unto itself, and 
the comfort of living depends largely for each individual upon his 
learning, by his own experience of life, what agrees and what does 
not agree with him. Two persons apparently in equally sound health 
are very differently affected by the same food. Sugar is a thing that 
I can not take to any extent without being made uncomfortable and 
even sick by it. Yet I had a man in my employ at one time who was 
cured of violent attacks of dyspepsia by taking large quantities of 
sugar. 

There are many people who can not abide pickles ; some can not 
abide wood smoke; some can not stand much salt food. The old- 
time preservatives and the modern preservatives are different in this, 
that in the old-time affair every i^erson had information at once by 
taste and smell what he was taking, and he could tell from his experi- 
ence whether it agreed with him or not. These modern preservatives 
are used without any notice given by the vender that they are used. 
That opportunity and right of the individual to find out whether they 
will or will not injure him is taken away from him. That, it seems 
to me, is the rational ground for requiring notice of the presence of 
these preservatives. Such notice should be given to the consumer. 

I believe that preservatives may have their place in food — a legiti- 
mate place — but certainly they should not be used unless it is dis- 
tinctly stated on the packages which inclose the food, or unless notice 
be given to the buyer by the seller that the preservatives are used. 
This information should be given in some way. It should be made 
known that they are present and in what quantity they are present. 

Take the one article of oysters. We may all agree that borax is 
perfectly harmless ; but here is a sample of oysters that contain 38 
grains of borax in the pound. Here is an invalid with a delicate di- 
gestion, for whom fresh oysters are ordered by the physician. I do 
not believe that anj^ reputable physician would prescribe that his con- 
valescent patient should take 38 grains or any considerable fraction 
of that material in that way when he knew nothing of it. 

The Chairman. That is, of borax ? 

Professor Jenkins. Of borax. It might work considerable disturb- 
ance in a delicate stomach, and I think that would be the opinion of 
a physician as to the case of an invalid lady, whereas when she was 
well she might be able to stand that dose without trouble. 

In our own State the use of antiseptics was forbidden in the law, 
and then a provision was inserted further on which neutralized the 
effect of the prohibition. It was provided that when any matter or 
ingredient was added because the same was required for the protection 
or preservation of an article of commerce to put it in a fit state for car- 
riage or consumption, then it might be used. So that if we find borax 
or formaldehj^de the question now comes up, is it (the borax or for- 
maldeiiyde) necessary to fit the article for carriage or consumption ? 

The Chairman. Would you recommend a national law in regard to 
the use of antiseptics? 

Professor Jenkins. I am not enough of a legislator to feel competent 
to recommend anything in the way of national legislation. It is all a 
question of how far it is a matter for the General Government as dis- 
tinguished from State governments to regulate these things. 

But if it is deemed advisable that the United States Government 
shall pass a pure-food law, it seems to me certainly wise that such a 
law should forbid the use of antiseptics that are not evident to the 
taste and smell, unless their presence is called to the attention of the 
purchaser either in the label or in the sale of the article. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 455 

The Chairman. What would you think of having a national hoard 
under the direction of the Department of Agriculture — a national 
board or commission to be appointed bj^ the President to fix standards 
of foods and to control the use of preservatives generally? 

Professor Jenkins. I think that the fixing of standards for foods, or 
for certain foods, would certainly be a most desirable thing. As to 
the special means by which that could be accomplished I have not 
given the matter sufficient thought and I do not feel competent to 
speak. I think the thing is the right thing to be accomplished, and 
that such standards for certain foods ought to be fixed. 

The Chairman. And you see the advantage, I suppose, of a national 
law as against State laws, because States might have conflicting laws, 
rules, and regulations on the same subject. A man may be a per- 
fectly honest manufacturer and may send goods into your State 
marked in one way to comply with the laws of your State, and may 
have to mark or label them differently to send them into another State. 

Professor Jenkins. Yes; there is that objection. Manufacturers 
would have to brand their goods in different ways in order to meet 
local regulations. 

The Chairman. Have you any other suggestion to make to the 
committee? 

Professor Jenkins. I think I have nothing more, unless you have 
some questions to ask. 

The Chairman. I think I have nothing more to ask you, Professor. 

TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM H. ZELTNER 

William H. Zeltner, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Zeltner. I am a lager beer brewer in New York City. The 
concern is The Henry Zeltner Brewing Company. 

The Chairman. Whereabouts? 

Mr. Zeltner. At 170th street and Third avenue. 

The Chairman. How long have you been in the business? 

Mr. Zeltner. Do you mean how long our business has been estab- 
lished or how long I have been in the business myself j)ersonally? 

The Chairman. I mean how long you have been in the business 
yourself personally. 

Mr. Zeltner. I have been in the business since my seventeenth 
year. That is to say, I have been in it for twentj^-three years. 

The Chairman. You are a practical brewer? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. 

The Chairman. In your brewery, what do you use in the manufac- 
ture of beer? 

Mr. Zeltner. In one brand of beer, which we term old-fashioned 
beer we use nothing but barley malt and hops, and of course j'east 
and water. Those are the ingredients that we use in 75 per cent of 
the beer that we make to-day — about that. 

The Chairman. Do you make any other grade of beer besides that? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. 

The Chairman. Of lighter color, is it ? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. 

The Chairman. What do you use in that? 

Mr. Zeltner. I use the best of white corn grits. 

The Chairman. Does that make a lighter-colored beer? 



456 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. 

The Chairman. You have some customers who prefer that ? 

Mr. Zeltner. Well, I use it to meet competition. Some customers 
want a lighter beer because I can and do give it to them cheaper. 
The cost of production is less. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservatives — any salicylic acid 
or other preservative? 

Mr. Zeltner. No, sir; I have got salicylic acid on hand for any 
beer that may go out of the country, as I understand from people who 
want beer in some other countries that the beer must be bright and 
keep for probably an indefinite time, we do not know how long. For 
purposes of that kind probably salicylic acid would do. 

I should like to state that I will speak on the turbidity that may 
arise in beer at certain stages. By turbidity I mean that condition in 
the beer when it becomes cloudy; and if a note be made of that I will 
explain it later. 

The Chairman. You may proceed with that subject now if you 
desire. 

Mr. Zeltner. Well, I have my argument formulated somewhat and 
should prefer to speak first on the subject of a standard for the pro- 
duction of lager beer. 

The Chairman. You believe there ought to be a standard ? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes; for various reasons. 

The Chairman. A standard fixed by national law? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. And there is another point that I should like 
to touch upon in the argument, and that is this : It is well known 
that the renown of the Bavarian beers has placed the brewers of 
Bavaria in an enviable i^osition as brewers. 

The difficulties that would probably occur if we had State laws have 
been put to me, and without giving it much consideration I have 
thought that there might be some plausibility in tliat view of the case. 

I am of opinion, however, that if the brewers of any particular 
State — I do not care what State it is — would establish a standard for 
that particular State, the brewers of that State would be in the same 
position (and it would not take a very long time to bring them there) 
as the brewers of Bavaria. It is a well-known fact, I believe — and I can 
prove it by documents, which, however, I have not with me at this 
moment, but if anybody should doubt the statement or contradict it, 
I can prove it — that the countries making up the German Empire out- 
side of the State of Bavaria have petitioned their governments for 
just such laws as prevail in Bavaria to-day. 

The Chairman. What standard would you be in favor of fixing, 
Mr. Zeltner, and how would you fix the standard? 

Mr. Zeltner. I would base the standard on malt. Malt should be 
the standard. 

The Chairman. That is barley malt? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes, sir; and the degree of inferiority or, as we would 
say, adulteration would be determined by just the percentage of other 
cereals that are used in place of barley malt; because I maintain that 
cereals other than barle}^ malt in the production of lager beer are used 
for no other jiurpose than to make a cheaper article. That is easily 
proven by simj^ly taking a lead pencil and a piece of paper and doing 
some figuring. 

The Chairman. Corn is, of course, cheaper than barley malt? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. 

The Chairman. It also has the effect, does it not, of making a lighter 
color? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 457 

Mr. Zeltner. Making a lighter color to the depreciation of taste. 
You get a lighter color and probably a greater durability, as some of 
our chemists say, but you are doing it at the cost of the flavor and 
the nourishing qualities which malt contains. 

The Chairman. Corn is nutritious, is it not? 

Mr. Zeltner. It is not so nutritious as malt. There are certain 
products in malt the nutrition of which products has been known, not 
for six months or the last few years in which brewers have resorted 
to other cereals, but for centuries. In support of that I can bring 
the testimony or the opinions of those very gentlemen who uphold the 
superiority of other cereals, as they say. They say that beer is 
better — sweeter and more wholesome — if made out of other cereals 
than malt. That is, thej' tell you committees, and the jDublic in gen- 
eral, that it is so, but they forget that when they talk to brewmasters 
and brewers who know about the art of brewing practically they 
almost state substantially what I say to your committee. 

The statement has been made here by one gentleman, I believe — if 
I am not correct I desire to be corrected — that if brewers were to resort 
to malt only for the production of their beers, there was not enough 
barley grown, or that enough could not be grown to supply that amount 
of malt — that barley of a sufficient quality to make malt suitable for 
producing beer could not be got. 

The Chairman. Speaking from memory, I think one gentleman said 
that there was not enough of the right quality now produced; but 
I think that Mr. Liebman stated that at the present time they were 
raising plenty of good barley in this country. 

Mr. Zeltner. And can raise more. Anybody who knows the avail- 
able territory in this country that is suitable for the production of 
barley knows that. 

I believe it was stated also that barley malt and hops of proper qual- 
ity and quantity make a tenth part of the beer consumed in the world. 
What are we to assume from that — that 90 per cent of the cereals used 
for making beer are other than malt? If that was stated it is clearly 
wrong. It was stated also that in standard beers only 15 per cent of 
glucose is used. 

Another point : The encouragement of the planting of barley and 
the brewing of malt is a benefit to the American farmer. He gets a 
better price for his barley than he would for corn. 

Suppose it were necessary to raise from 30,000,000 to 50,000,000 
bushels of barley more in this country than we raise to-day — and we 
have an abundance of barley — the brewers need not fear that there 
would be any scarcity. Of course corn is produced by the hundreds 
of millions of bushels, and an increase of thirty or Mty million bushels 
of barley would be only a drop in the bucket. 

I will state here that the production of barley in the State of New 
York which at one time was up to 5,000,000 bushels is now but about 
2,000,000 bushels. 

The Chairman. That is true largely as to all cereals, is it not? The 
New York lands are more largely used now for dairy and milk pur- 
poses and the Western farmers can raise cereals more cheaply. 

Mr. Zeltner. I think that if there were a demand here they would 
go back to the planting of barley. 

The Chairman. I should like to ask you a question at this point on 
the matter of a standard of beer. The word "Kaiser" was used 
yesterday by one of the witnesses in that connection. It seems that 
there are two different standards of saccharometers, one being the 



458 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Kaiser and the other the Balling, They are used to measure the 
amount of saccharine matter or malt extract in the beer. 

Will you now kindly look at the paper which I show you, entitled 
"Chemical combinations of standard beers." I do not ask you to 
state accurately but to state from your memory whether that is about 
the percentage of each of the different articles that ought to be in a 
beer of proper standard? 

Mr. Zeltner. I see the word "extract" in this list. Does that 
mean the finished beer? 

The Chairman. It means the finished beer. 

Mr. Zeltner. I see by this list that it gives lager beer 3.93 per 
cent of alcohol. That is nearly 4 per cent, and of extract matter 
5.79. That ought to make a good lager beer. But it all depends. 
There is a way of getting at that. The only way of getting at it is 
the quality of your malt — using malt for a standard; and that is 
where the art of brewing comes in — not theoretically, but practically. 

The Chairman. You could brew a beer up to any of those stand- 
ards, could you not? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes; but I would have to know what I could get 
out of any particular malt. For instance, I may take a malt sample 
that may look just as well as another sample — probably better. 
There may be a larger percentage of extract from the better-looking 
malt, but extract not of that quality as the other malt. That differ- 
ence is produced by the method of germination or the method of 
kilning, or the malting method. The grade depends upon that. 

I maintain that lager beer produced out of malt only, out of a 
carefully malted barley, makes the better beer and it is more whole- 
some and, to use the exact words of a chemist who sometimes gives 
ideas opposite to those that I am giving now, it is a beer that agrees 
better with the consumer. That he so stated I have the proof. 
Now, if any article agrees better with you, you must certainly come 
to the conclusion that it is the better article. I am not alone in some 
of my ideas. There are other brewers who claim that the scientific 
stations, so called, are the real cause of the demoralization now 
existing in the lager-beer business. 

The Chairman. What do you mean by scientific stations? 

Mr. Zeltner. The scientific stations are the institutions that are 
under or governed by such gentlemen as Dr. Schwarz and Dr. Wyatt. 
I also claim that they are largely responsible for malsters becoming 
indifferent as to the quality of malt that they produce, simply because 
the brewer wants to buy as cheaply as he possibly can buy, and, as I 
stated before, it is not the amount of extract in the grain, but it is 
the quality of the extract that an honest brewer who tries to brew an 
honest beer should look for. That there is a difference in the extract 
produced in these malts I will also prove by the words of this very 
gentleman. I believe that I am quoting right — I want to be as nearly 
correct in what I state as possible. 

The Chairman. From whom do you wish to quote? 

Mr. Zeltner. From an address of Dr. Schwarz to the brewmas- 
ters in convention at Detroit in 1897. 

The Chairman. Can you leave that address with the stenographer 
to copy? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes; but I simply want to 

The Chairman. If there is anything in it that you specially want 
to call attention to in a brief way we shall be glad to have it. 

Mr. Zeltner. Dr. Schwarz, in that address, says: " I wish to state 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 459 

right here that I do not ascribe any special .nourishing value to the 
presence of these substances in beer," meaning the albuminoids. 

The Chairman. Do you wish to have this paper go into the record? 

Mr. Zeltner. I would like to have it all go in. I will submit the 
whole of this address of Dr. Schwarz to the brewmasters. 

The Chairman. The stenographer will take it and have it printed 
in the record in full. 

Mr. Zeltner. There is another thing that I wish to mention before 
concluding. I referred to it in my opening remarks. That is in 
regard to the phenomena in beer which I call turbidity, or its becom- 
ing cloudy. 

The Chairman. Yes, I remember you mentioned that. 

Mr. Zeltner. I wish to state that in a healthy lager beer at a given 
temperature — at a certain low temperature — the beer will become 
turbid or cloudj\ The ordinary beer drinker or any person not con- 
versant with the reason of that cloudiness may reject the beer for the 
reason that it does not look right; it does not appeal to the eye. 

I can take that same beer and bring it back into a higher tempera- 
ture and it will again become bright as before. 

Now, we know that from practice. The theory of it is probably that 
the albuminoids contained in that beer become congealed at a certain 
temperature — they become frozen — and as the temperature of the beer 
is raised they again become soluble. 

So that if that bottle of beer which was bright and, being put in a 
cooler, froze down, should be rejected on account of its being off 
color, you are doing an injustice to the beer, because that beer is just 
as wholesome as it ever was. 

You will find that a beer is advertised as being able to stand any 
temperature. Of course it will stand any temperature. It is devoid 
of the nourishing constituents that make up the genuine malt beer. 
In the same way, if beer is thoroughlj" fermented — and it all depends on 
the usages of a beer — what it must undergo in the way of changes of 
temperature — if it does not undergo frequent and rapid changes of 
temperature, that beer will stay in sound condition as to appearance 
longer than it would if there was a change. 

Now, I really believe, and I have experienced it, that that beer, 
even if it does not appeal to the eye on account of its apparent 
cloudiness, is far more healthy to drink than a beer that is kept 
bright to the eye with antiseptics, especiallj^ those that we know 
nothing about. Put that same beer into a mug (different from a 
glass); you can not see what is in it, but leave the matter to your 
palate and to the effects produced afterwards on your system, and I 
believe that that beer would be taken in preference to a beer that is 
kept bright by the use of antiseptics. 

The Chairman. You think that beer ought to be made for the 
stomach and not for the eye? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. I would like to add one thing more, and that 
is: I can not understand why brewers, if they had perfect faith in 
the product produced by cereals other than malt, should object to let- 
ting the public know what that beer is made of, if their arguments are 
true that it makes a better beer than that produced out of malt. 
That is one of the principal things to be got by having a standard. 
Suppose that some of those cereals are wholesome, or as wholesome 
as malt, used to a certain percentage; that does not stop the brewer 
from using it in a larger percentage than would, in smaller percent- 
age, be wholesome. 



460 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You think that by fixing a standard the people 
would know what was in it? 

Mr. Zeltner. Yes. 

The Chairman. Would you favor the Bavarian system, which fixes 
the revenue on the amount of barley used? For instance, there, as I 
understand it (I have not a copy of the law), the revenue agent col- 
lects a tax on the amount of barley that goes into the brewery. 

Mr. Zeltner. I do not understand the revenue laws of Germany. 
Bavaria is only a part of Germany. 

The Chairman. I understand that, but I was speaking only of 
Bavaria. 

Mr. Zeltner. Whether the revenues of Germany come from the 
use of malt or not I do not know. 

The Chairman. We have been told here by gentlemen who appear 
to be well informed that the revenues are fixed in that way. The 
revenue official stays there and sees how many bushels of barley enter, 
and states that f r-om that quantity they must produce only so much 
beer; that is as I understand it, and in that way they keep the beer 
up to the standard. 

Mr. Zeltner. That applies only to Bavaria. 

The Chairman, Yes; I do not think that that is the law in all the 
German states, although it may be. I have not read the law myself. 

Mr. Zeltner. That is something that I have not given thought to. 

I should like also to state here that the yeast produced bj^ the use 
of malt only is a better yeast and more wholesome and more sought 
after by brewers who know their business. In support of that I will 
say that I have a letter here, which is in German, and which the com- 
mittee are welcome to if they desire to translate it. 

The Chairman. If you desire to leave it it can go into the record. 
By whom is it signed? 

Mr. Zeltner. It is signed by a brewmaster and addressed to our 
foreman. 

In support of that I have evidence also by Dr. Brush, for instance, 
who is the manufacturer of the renowned Kumyss, who uses brewers' 
yeast in the production of his Kumyss, and uses no other yeast but 
ours. 

The Chairman. You mean American yeast? 

Mr. Zeltner. I mean malt yeast produced in our brewery. 



TESTIMONY OF J. FANNING O'REILLY. 

J. Fanning O'Reilly, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. O'Reilly. I am editor of a publication in the wine and spirit 
trade, called The Liquor Trades Gazette. 

The Chairman. Your experience in regard to liquors is largely 
from a literary point of view and from observation? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. I am not an expert. 

The Chairman. You are not a chemist? 

Mr. O'Reilly. No. My knowledge on the subject is derived from 
the fact that I am the editor of a trade jiublication. 

The Chairman. Do you believe that there is a good deal of adul- 
teration in whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Not so much in whisky, I think, as there is substi- 
tution. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 461 

The Chairman. What is substituted, in your opinion? 

Mr. O'Reilly. We have a difficult}^ to contend with in the trade in 
the fact of new whiskies being sold as fully matured whiskies. There 
are certain processes by whicli that operation is brought about, but I 
do not think that in it there are any deleterious substances used par- 
ticularly, except possibly in the matter of coloring. 

Tlie Chairman Does aging whisky change its color? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. 

The Chairman. I mean the natural aging? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. 

The Chairman. Does it make it darker or lighter? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Darker. 

The Chairman. They have a process then of coloring new whisky 
so as to make it look like old whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you think that is not fair? 

Mr. O'Reilly. It is not fair to the public. 

The Chairman. Nor to the men who make good whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. No. It is not fair to the honest manufacturer or to 
the consumer. Neither is it fair to the Government, which loses stor- 
age on it while it is aging. 

The Chairman. What remedj^ would you recommend so that the 
honest distiller who ages his whisky will not have to compete with the 
man who sells new whisky, by the aid of coloring, for old whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. I think the passage of a law which would make it 
imperative that the constituent elements should in a general way be 
shown on the package. Every package of whisky should be stamped 
either by label or brand. I should not suggest that a man should 
stamp his entire formula, but that he should give a reasonable per- 
centage of his ingredients, so that the public or the purchaser would 
know that they are being fairly treated. 

The Chairman. What is used for coloring matter? 

Mr. O'Reilly. For aging whisky they use prune juice a good deal. 

The Chairman. That is not deleterious to health, is it? 

Mr. O'Reilly. I do not think so. 

The Chairman. What is meant by the term "Straight" whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. "Straight" whisky is whisky as it comes from the 
distillery. 

The Chairman. And what is meant by the term "Compounded" as 
applied to whisky, or "Blended" whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. "Compounded" whisky is original whisky to which 
has been added spirits; that is my understanding of it. 

The Chairman. "Spirits;" that is, pure spirits? What they call 
"Cologne spirits?" 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes; it is a cheaper product than matured whisky. 
It is added to that in order to lessen the cost. 

The Chairman. What would you say to a law that simply com- 
pelled a man to have a certificate that his whisky had been stored for 
a certain number of years, say five years, and absolutely prohibit the 
sale of fresh or raw whisky: Would that be a hardship? 

Mr. O'Reilly. There are a number of people watching for schemes 
of arranging whisky so that it can be sold in new condition and still 
be as good as whisky that has taken years to mature. As I under- 
stand, there are several things resorted to. Some of the processes have 
been patented; for instance, the application of electricity to whisky. 
I have seen numbers of articles on the subject, but not being interested, 



462 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

I could not say how near they have come to the result at which they 
aimed. 

The Chairman. Then it is also claimed, I believe, that the putting 
of a barrel of whisky on a moving machine has a tendency to ripen or 
mature the liquor ; for instance, that in the case of whisky placed on 
shipboard, sent across the ocean and brought back again, it is claimed 
by some that the gentle movement has a maturing or ripening effect 
on the whisky. What do you think as to that? 

Mr. O'Reilly. I presume that the more the whisky comes in con- 
tact with the barrel, the barrel being burnt on the inside, the better 
the coloring process would result. 

The Chairman. The barrel being charred on the inside for the pur- 
pose? 

Mr. O'Reilly, Yes. The United States Government, as you know, 
passed a bottle-in-bond law, by which the liquors bottled under that 
law bear a Government stamp and are 100 proof, absolutely without 
any adulteration. That whisky is bottled under Government super- 
vision, and the United States Government stamp is over each bottle. 
That, I think, has been generally regarded as a failure ; I do not know 
why. It was an innovation. So far as this market is concerned, there 
is very little of it sold here for the reason that people here do not fancy 
liquor that is under proof; they prefer something that is about 85 or 
90 ; and in this market there is a preference for blended whisky, con- 
sisting of the products of several distilleries blended together. 

The Chairman. Then it may be all pure whisky. They do not blend 
rye and corn whisky, do they? 

Mr. O'Reilly. If a rectifier is satisfied that he can get a food brand 
by such combination as pleases the palate, he will have a private label 
made for it, or private brand. 

The Chairman. Your idea would be to have the Government fix 
matters so that the barrel would be stamped when it is blended so as 
to show the constituent elements? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes; without encroaching on the privacy of any de- 
sirable formula that any rectifier or distiller may have. 

The Chairman. What do you mean by a private brand whisky? 

Mr. O'Reilly. A brand established by a man who is not a distiller, 
who is a blender, and in blending fixes upon a name and uses it. His 
formula is an original brand from an original whisky. A rectifier 
may get some original whisky and get some "James E. Pepper" 
whisky and mix the two together and find that they make a good 
blend, and he determines upon a name for it and it goes by that 
name. 

The Chairman. Have you had occasion to look up the subject of 
beer adulterations? 

Mr. O'Reilly. I have been present at some investigations on the 
subject before the New York State senate. 

The Chairman. What do you think ought to be done" in regard to 
that? 

Mr. O'Reilly, I think that the brewers generally are in favor of a 
national standard, I have attended a number of brewers' conven- 
tions, when the question has been brought up, and I think that rather 
than face the troubles that would result from State legislation they 
would be willing to have a national law fixing a standard for the 
country. The idea is that State legislation would eonfiict with the 
interstate law. For instance, if we had a law in this State that pre- 
scribed a certain standard, that standard might involve an additional 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 463 

expense in production, while the manufacturer of beer in New Jersey 
might come in here and sell a cheaper beer. 

The Chairman. What do you say regarding the adulteration of 
liqueurs and cordials? Do you believe there is much of that? 

Mr. O'Reilly. That is a matter that would have to be decided by 
particular experts. I could not say anything specific on the subject 
unless I were a chemist and were able to judge of the effects of cer- 
tain acids and pigments that are used in the preparation of some of 
these goods by some houses. There is one matter to whicli I wish to 
refei- 

The Chairman. You mean the matter treated of by the little book 
you hold in your hand? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. 

The Chairman. Can you let me have that book? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes; I will let you have it. (Delivers the book to 
the chairman.) 

The Chairman. This little book is entitled "Valuable information 
for the manufacture of liquors without distillation." It is also called 
"A treatise on how to make liquors without distillation, and many 
other matters pertaining to liquors and their manufacture." The 
title page says that "This work is designed more expressly for the 
information and guidance of those engaged in or about to become 
engaged in the liquor, hotel, or saloon business." And further it 
assures us, on the title page, that "A careful perusal of its contents 
will repaj' the reader." 

I will read an item or two from this book to exhibit the general 
character of its contents. 

Under the general head of "How to make liquors without distilla- 
tion" and under the special head of " Bead for liquors," it goes on to 
describe what a bead is. "A bead," it says, "is composed of one or 
more small white globules found floating on the surface of any liquid 
that has been subject to agitation, and is supposed to denote the strength 
of liquors." It goes on to describe how a "bead" can be given to 
liquors, and mentions the first description of bead as being derived 
from alcohol; the second as being derived by filtering the liquor 
through a liquid containing certain substances. The third descrip- 
tion is what I want to have specially placed on our record. As to 
that sort of bead, the book saj^s: 

The bead derived from the third source is a chemical compound resulting from 
a chemical combination of sweet oil ;ind oil of vitriol, say by mixing drop by drop 
20 drops sulphuric acid with 30 drops sweet oil. 

Farther along, in the same connection, it says: 

To prevent a failure in the above preparation, owing to adulterated sweet 
oil being used [that is a sad reflection on adulteration], which has become so 
plentiful in the market, any oil that will stand the following test will answer: 
Mix equal portions of nitric acid and sweet oil, etc. 

And so forth. Then it goes on to provide methods for "increasing 
the volume of whisky, etc. , from 20 to 40 per cent without loss of 
strength;" also methods "for giving body, age, and mucilaginous oily 
appearance to wines and liquors." 

I find in this book also a method for the manufacture of Scotch 
whisky, which I will read : 

Thirty-nine gallons rectified whisky, half-gallon tincture grains of paradise, 
3 ounces of powdered catechu. Color lightly with burnt sugar and add 30 drops 
creosote. 



464 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

I am very much obliged for this book, which I shall be glad to keep 
for the use of the committee. 

Mr. O'Reilly. In relation to the question of liqueurs and cordials, 
there is a very large demand for such goods here ; and in past years 
foreign houses shipped very large quantities of them. But I wish to 
establish an affinity between j'our work, on this committee, and the 
subject of trade-marks. I think the public recognizes that there is 
such relation. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. O'Reilly. There are quite a large quantity of liqueurs and cor- 
dials made in this country, but there is only one house that I know of 
that puts these goods up under their own name. That is the house of 
Rheinstrom Brothers, one of whom was here yesterday and testified. 
The goods of that establishment give evidence that they are manufac- 
tured in this country. The other houses, seemingly standing high in 
the trade, too, i)ut up these cordials under foreign names, some French 
names and some German names, as the case may be. These carry on 
their labels the idea of a foreign production; so that it is a deception. 
In addition to that it displaces the imported article and lessens the 
Government revenue from imports. 

At the bar of this hotel there is to be seen a case of cordials with a 
foreign-looking label on it. Somebody "et Freres." Whoever gets 
a glass of that cordial naturally thinks it is an imported article, if he 
judges it by the label; as I say, that displaces so much revenue to 
which the Government is entitled, so much import duty. I believe 
our country is in a i^osition to-day to produce high-class goods of that 
kind, and I do not believe it will ever be accomplished while ou 
manufacturers operate on that basis. 

The Chairman. You think that that ought to be also under Gov- 
ernment supervision? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. That is my idea. There is a decided affinity 
between the question of trade-marks and that of substitutions. 

The Chairman. What the trade-mark law does not reach the pure- 
food legislation could reach, you think? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. 

The Chairman. There was an Italian gentleman here this morn- 
ing, who spoke to us of fictitious firms and fictitious names on labels. 
For instance, if a man is making a fine cordial, called "Smith's Cor- 
dial," which comes to have a high repute, and if another starts in to 
make what he calls "The Jones-Smith Combination Cordial," there is 
no one to prosecute him, because there is no such firm as that whose 
name he is using? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Exactly. 

The Chairman. And what you wish this committee to understand 
is, that there are cases which the copyright law does not reach which 
could be reached by a pure-food law? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. 

The Chairman. And that there ought to be a way of reaching 
these fictitious cases? 

Mr. O'Reilly. Yes. In my capacity as editor I have known of 
houses that place on their labels the word "Paris," or "Bordeaux," 
and when I have asked them why they did not use their own name 
instead of a foreign name, they have said that that was the name of 
"a man who used to be connected with us on the other side, and we 
have the authority of the French Government to use that name." I 
regard that as nonsense, and a mere subterfuge. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 465 

Some time ago I wrote to Mr. Albion Tourgee, our consul at Bor- 
deaux, to inquire whether a party of whom I had heard as living in 
Bordeaux was really there, and he replied that there was no such 
person there. That was as to a " Creme de Menth " manufactured in 
this city. 

There is one house here in New York — a Canadian house — that has 
been very active in the pursuit of the falsification of labels. They 
are the proprietors of "The Canadian Club Whisky," the firm of 
Iliram Walker & Sons, Limited. Here are 33 samples of labels, all 
made in imitation of their Canadian Club Whisky, not one of which 
is genuine. 

The Chairman. I suppose there are some of those that they can 
reach under the trade-mark law? 

Mr. O'Reilly. They have done so. Their method of stopping that 
sort of thing is very distinct. When they find a man in a certain town 
imitating their whisky they have large placards posted all over the 
town saying "Citizens of such-and-such a town: You are being swin- 
dled. So-and-so is selling you an imitation whisk j' and is imposing on 
you." They have been very successful in fighting these imitations in 
that way. There is jjrobably less now than there has been. While 
sitting here, however, a New York agent for the firm of William 
McGari-ahan & Sons sent me a clipping from the Brooklyn Eagle say- 
ing that a man Avas arrested for selling raw spirits for familiar brands; 
that his house was full of the stuff, and that he had material for coun- 
terfeiting labels, besides bottles and packing cases. The man had 
been buying empty bottles of the brands he wanted to counterfeit, 
and putting his own cheap stuff into them and selling it for the gen- 
uine. He went so far in his rascality as to send to Europe for new 
capsules, so that the bottles could be refilled and be furnished with 
new capsules. That might have gone on for some time if he had not 
been discovered. 

The Chairman. We are much obliged for your testimony, Mr. 
O'Reilly. 

The committee adjourned till Monday, November 20, 1899, at 10.30 
a. m. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Imperial Hotel, New York City, 

Monday, November 20, 1899. 



TESTIMONY OF HENRY 0. HAVEMEYER. 

Henry O. Havemeyer, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. Please state your occupation, Mr. Havemeyer. 

Mr. Havemeyer. I am president of the American Sugar Company. 
1 am a merchant. 

The Chairman. This committee is investigating, under authority 
of a resolution jDassed by the Senate, the question of adulteration of 
foods. Some of these adulterations are alleged to be deleterious to 
health and some are mere commercial frauds upon the consumer. 
You are familiar, are you. not, with the manufacture of the article 
made by your company? 

Mr. Havemeyer. I am. 
F P 30 



466 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You feel that you know it practically from the 
purchases to the sales? 

Mr. Havemeyer. I do. 

The Chairman. What do you use in manufacturing sugar? 

Mr. Havemeyer. We use raw sugar of different grades of quality 
from the purest to the most impure, and the business is to extract 
and sell the raw sugar in an absolutely refined and pure state. 

The Chairman. What ingredients do you use, if any, besides the 
raw sugar in order to make the product? 

Mr. Havemeyer. We use none whatever. 

The Chairman. You use the system that has been described here 
before the committee, I suppose, of dissolving the sugar and in that 
way cleansing it of impurities, running it, as I suppose (as I think one 
gentleman testified), through a series of cloths, taking out certain 
impurities, and them through charcoal? 

Mr. Havemeyer. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you know of any ingredient in the shape of 
acids, lime, or anj^thing of that kind that becomes a component part 
of the finished product? 

Mr. Havemeyer. I do not. 

The Chairman. You do not know of anything that goes into the 
process, that becomes a part of your finished product, that you would 
consider deleterious to public health in any way? 

Mr. Havemeyer. There is nothing whatever of that kind. 

The Chairman. Does the manner of refining and disposing of the 
product now differ from what it was some years ago? 

Mr. Havemeyer. Not that I am aware of. 

The Chairman. As I understand, the refiner sold his product and 
there was a custom of mixing different grades of sugar by the middle 
men or merchants who would have them both on hand. Did you ever 
hear of such a practice in the past? 

Mr. Havemeyer. Yes; about fifteen years ago there was such a 
practice, owing to the cheapness of glucose, which was used as an 
adulterant in those grades of sugars commercially known as coffee- 
sugars, but I think that did not succeed and was entirely abandoned. 

The Chairman. Under the practice now the refiner practically sells 
his goods and they go in the original packages to the retailers, do 
they not? 

Mr. Havemeyer. Yes. 

The Chairman. And they frequently go to the home of the con- 
sumer in the package or barrel just as it leaves the factory? 

Mr. Havemeyer. Within the last two years there has been a marked 
change in the form of package. It was put up formerly in large bags 
holding 100 pounds and in the customary barrel, but it is now put up 
in 1 and 2 pound packages and reaches the consumer without any 
change of form. 

The Chairman. The company that you represent and the company 
known as the Arbuckle Company — those two make the larger pro- 
portion of the sugar that is consumed in this country, do they? 

Mr. Havemeyer. I do not think that Arbuckles count, when com- 
pared with other companies, outside the American Company. There 
are six or seven other companies. 

The Chairman. I do not wish to pry into your business, but I desire 
when I report to the committee on this question, as to sugar, to show 
that I have covered by my questions the greater proportion of the 
sugar supplied to the people of this country. I therefore ask you to 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 467 

state, if you will, what percentage you think these companies men- 
tioned refine for the trade of this country. 

Mr. IIavemeyer. I think the Arbuckles refine about 5 per cent 
and the other companies about 25 per cent. The "trust," or Ameri- 
can Company, refines about 70 i^er cent. These figures, of course^ I 
give without any positive knowledge on the subject. 

The Chairman, An estimate is all I ask. 

Mr. IIavemeyer. That is as near as I can get at it. 

The Chairman. So far as you know and believe, as a practical 
sugar manufacturer, do the refiners of the other 30 per cent use prac- 
tically the same system in the manufacture of sugar as you do? 

Mr. IIavemeyer. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you know of no process and no practice among 
your competitors whereljy their product is adulterated? 

Mr. IIavemeyer. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You never heard of any? 

Mr, IIavemeyer. No. 

The Chairman. You think that your competitors have the same 
sense of commercial honor, so far as the product is concerned, and 
that they produce the same goods as your company. 

Mr. Havemeyer. I think their goods are absolutely pure. I should 
like to state in that connection that anyone who desires to test the 
product can do so by adding to it a little water. If it dissolves, it is 
sugar. If it does not dissolve, it is not sugar. 

The Chairman. That is a very simple test, certainly, I do not 
know that I think of anything else to ask you, but shall be glad to 
hear anything that you may wish to say on the subject under consid- 
eration by the committee. Do you know anything of any other food 
products? 

Mr. Havemeyer. No. I will say that I am in hearty sympathy 
with the idea of having the consumer protected under Congressional 
action, because there is no way in which a consumer can protect him- 
self, that I am aware of, against food adulterations, and the subject 
should be a matter of national legislation. 

TESTIMONY OF SIGMUND HOCHSTADTER. 

The Chairman. I have received a letter from Mr. Sigmund Hoch- 
stadter, wholesale dealer in liquors, and secretary of the Charles 
Jacquin Company, manufacturer of cordials. No. 227 Front street. 
New York, regarding a statement made by Mr. Sadler, who claimed that 
$6,000,000 was lost to the Government by reason of the imitation of 
labels, etc. The letter is as follows: 

New York, November 17, 1899, 
Committee on Manufactures, 

United States Senate, Washington, D. C. 

Gentlemen: Sigmund Hochstadter, wholesale dealer in liquors, and secretary of 
the Charles Jacquin Company, manufacturer of cordials, member of the executive 
committee of the Wholesale Liquor Dealers' Association of New York, appears 
before the Senate committee in the investigation of the subject of pure-food legis- 
lation; begs to state that he has read the statement made by Mr. George B. Sad- 
ler, of Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular, who claims that §6,000,000 is annually 
lost to this Government by reason of imitation of labels and inferior products by 
liquor dealers in this country, which statement can not be substantiated. 

It is true that the sale of imported goods would be increased to some extent if 
the duty was reduced, to the detriment of the home industries. 

The manufacture of cordials and liquors in this country is in quality equal to 
the best imported, and in many instances superior. 



468 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

It is suggested that our time can not be given to legislation in the direction 
indicated by Mr. Sadler, but it is nevertheless a fact that the wines and liquors 
sold in this country must be, and are, as pure in quality as the imported. The 
wines and liquors of American production are purer and more wholesome. 

It is suggested that the subject brought up by Mr. Sadler more properly belongs 
to the trade-mark law than to the pure-food legislation. 

So far as legislation in the direction of pure food productions is concerned, I 
venti;re to suggest that American dealers in either foreign or domestic wines and 
liquors should be compelled to put their names upon every bottle or package sold 
or put up by them for sale as a means of identifying them in case of any impurity. 

Of course it is evident that we can not reach the foreign distiller or manufac- 
turer, but we have jurisdiction over the consignee or representative of that manu- 
facturer or distiller, and he (the agent) should attach his name and address, to be 
held responsible for impurities. Thereby we can reach the foreign manufacturer 
or distiller, 

Mr. Sadler speaks, no doubt, in the interest of the foreign distillers and would 
have legislation adopted, if possible, to favor them; and it is respectfully submitted 
that this style of legislation would not prove beneficial to the American Govern- 
ment or to the American manufacturer or distiller. 

Would also ask to be permitted to submit, by mail or otherwise, within a few 
days an article upon the kindred (juestions heretofore taken up by Congress. 
Yours, very respectfully, 

S. HOCHSTADTER. 

SiGMUND HOCHSTADTER, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. I have received your letter, Mr. Hochstadter, and 
note what yon say. Mr. Sadler, as I understood him, did not ask for 
a reduction of the tariff on these imported goods, but took the posi- 
tion that there should be some law in addition to the copja-ight law 
which would protect both the American and the foreign makers of 
wines and liquors against the use of their bottles and their labels by 
other people who put up a different article. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. That is an impossibility. That is what they 
have been trying to do, and I can easily prove why it is an impossi- 
bility. 

The Chairman. You say it is impossible? 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. You refer to a law about the new shapes of 
bottles, do you not? 

The Chairman. No. Mr. Sadler brought in here a number of 
labels — 20 or more different labels made in imitation of the labels, for 
example, of the Canadian Club whisky. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. That is not a matter of pure food. No one need 
think I am in favor of an imitator. I am trying to aid in securing 
the use of pure food. It would be impossible to have a different- 
shaped bottle. 

The Chairman. No such claim has been made before this committee, 
and if made it would be received as absurd. What do you manu- 
facture, Mr. Hochstadter? 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. Cordials. 

The Chairman. Please name one of your cordials. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. Marascluno. 

The Chairman. I have a right to make a bottle like yours, have I 
not? There is no patent on a bottle. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. That is right. 

The Chairman. Suppose you have gone to the trouble of showing 
people, by years of upright business dealings, that your Maraschino 
cordial is a pure cordial, and suppose that I come aloug and sell to a 
saloon keeper, or offer for sale, a cordial, and he asks what it is and, 
I reply that it is " Jacquin's Marascliino;" and suj^pose that he does 
not look at it very closely, but that if he did he should see in large 
letters the name " Jacquin." Would you not consider that a fraud? 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 409 

Mr. HoCHSTADTER. But we have already- all those laws to protect 
people. They are j)roseciiting all those imitators. I do not see what 
this has to do with the pure-food question. 

The Chairman. It has a great deal to do with it, for the reason that 
we are inquiring with reference to adulterations of food. You grant 
that liquor is a food? 

Mr. IIOCHSTADTER. Yes. 

The Chairman. Anything that goes into the stomach is a food? 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. Yes. 

The Chairman. This committee is directed to inquire with refer- 
ence to all adulterations of food, including cases in which one article 
is sold for another — sold in fraud to the consumer. I might call for 
your cordials, and if I irdy the price I am entitled to get them ; but it 
would be a fraud if some one should sell me a cordial that I did not 
want, which he pretends to be the article that I call for. The claim 
is that the copyright law does not afford i)rotection in all cases. It is 
not altogether a question of injury caused by the article, because the 
article is not always bad. For instance, glucose is sometimes sold for 
honey. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. Well, that is not what I am arguing. I mean 
to say that all dealers should be compelled to put their names on the 
bottle, showing who the manufacturer is. There should be a heavy 
penalty for the use of any other name than that of the manufacturer. 
But when it comes to the use of names which have become generic 
the fact is that the foreigner has the right to those names only until 
the American has become acquainted with the process of manufacture. 

The Chairman. I see what you mean. Of course there is no dis- 
position to let the foreigner have a monopoly of the name? 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. That is what they are '^rying to get. 

The Chairman. They can not have a monopoly of a name of an 
established article. They might just as well say that the name 
whisky was i^atented. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. That is exactlj^ it; that is just what they are 
after. 

The Chairman. You need have no fear that thej^ will succeed in 
that. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. Well, last year we defeated a bill at Washing- 
ton on the subject. Mr. Israel F. Fischer worked for us on that. 
They want the right to use the generic name. 

In other words, the foreigumanufacturer finds that we in this coun- 
try can make cordials equally good as theirs, and they find out that 
we are in a condition to sell them cheajjer, and so they feel hurt. 
There is no doubt that the United States Government, by reason of 
the ability of our own citizens to manufacture cordials better than 
before, is losing money on the duty compared with what they received 
ten years ago. But the Government is more than compensated for 
that loss by the gain in the establishment and maintenance of factories 
and the variety of industries that have sprung up. 

The Chairman. I agree with you on that. You will not have to 
argue with me very long on that point — but this in entering somewhat 
into a discussion of the tariff. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. There is absolutely no provision made for pun- 
ishing the foreigner if he sends impure food into the countr3\ The 
claim has been made that we have no jurisdiction over the foreigner, 
inasmuch as he is in Euroj^e and if he violates our laws regarding 
foods there is no way of punishing him. 



470 ADULTERATIOTT OF TOOD PRODUCTS. 

I do not see why it can not be fixed, by law, so that the agent here 
who markets the goods can be held responsible if he introduces goods 
that are not what they ought to be, and that are not labeled for what 
they are. We have, certainly, jurisdiction over him. He is an Ameri- 
can citizen; or at least he does business in our country and must be 
subject to our laws. 

I know that there are more adulterations on the other side than 
there are here. The Europeans are past masters in the art of adul- 
teration. 

I am fully in favor of pure food. I make a specialty of making and 
selling pure goods and high-priced goods. People say to us, " Your 
goods are all right, but they are so high priced." But if a man makes 
his goods by the right process he is obliged to charge so as to cover 
the cost of his process and afford him a profit. I have found cordials 
that were made from wood alcohol and with colors that are not 
healthy. I have found them made with all kinds of ingredients that 
should not have been used in their manufacture. But that difficulty 
exists in Europe even more than here. They send us wines which 
have never seen a grape, and which they could not sell or use in their 
own country, and are prohibited from using there by law ; but there 
is no prohibition against their exporting them to this country. There 
is no opposition in Bremen to a man sending port or sherry wine here 
which would not be tolerated there. 

The Chairman. It is a part of the duty of this committee to recom- 
mend a bill to be passed which shall, so far as practicable, forbid the 
exportation to this country of goods that are prohibited from sale in 
the countries in which they are manufactured. For instance, in 'Ger- 
many they take what is called "black jack" and send it here by the 
ton and sell it to our people as coffee. We propose, if we can, to 
prohibit the importation into this country of every article that is pro- 
hibited in the country of manufacture. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. But how will you know? That is the point I 
wish to bring up. He is not prohibited over there from sending it 
here. Say, for instance, cognac. We pay five, six, and seven dollars 
a gallon for it. I do not say that all cordials or cognacs coming here 
are not pure. Many of them are, and we have to compete with them. 
We can easily compete with all articles of pure food, but what we 
can not compete with is adulterations. 

The Chairman. You ask in this letter the privilege of filing a brief 
of a statement. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. A printed brief; yes. 

The Chairman. You can send it to me and I will have it printed 
in the record in connection with your testimony. 

Mr. HOCHSTADTER. I will thank the committee if it will do so. 

The brief is as follows : 

Argument of Israel f. fischer before commission to revise patent and 
trade-mark laws of the united states, against recommending and 
adopting a statute to prevent use of so-called false indications of 
origin, november 19, 1898. 

Gentlemen of the Commission: Representing the Wholesale Liquor Dealers' 
Association of New York, I appear to oppose the adoption of any statute intended 
to deprive them of the use of the words "Port," "Madeira," " Burgundy," or 
similar words, as provided for by Articles I, II, and IV of the agreement con- 
cluded at Madrid April 14, 1891. 

The proposed legislation is far-reaching and very dangerous to our domestic 
industries. Note the language: Article I provides for the seizure of "all goods 
bearing false indication of origin," and Article IV provides that " the tribunals 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 4^1 

of each country will decide what appellations, on account of their generic charac- 
ter, do not fall within the provisions of the present arrangement, regional appella- 
tions concerning the origin of products of the vine being, however, not com- 
prised in the reserve provided for the present article." 

Thus, wine products are specially excepted, and tribunals can not arrange for 
them any classification, but they must, by themselves, form a separate and dis- 
tinct class; and the mere passage of an act to ratify the agreement of the conven- 
tion will result in inflicting great injuries, as I shall endeavor to prove to you 
later on. 

When the American wine grower concluded to go into the industry, hia first 
step was to provide himself with the grape which was used by the European 
growers and which had made their wines famous, and he accordingly secured the 
Malaga, Muscatel, Tokay, and other varieties, and having planted them here, suc- 
ceeded in raising a very superior quality of the various kinds, and out of their 
growth has been able to make the very finest qualities of the various brands of 
wine and brandy, and to-day they are so recognized the world over. To these 
win^ it was necessary to give a name, and our growers, looking upon the names 
always theretofore used as denoting kind, followed in the footsteps of their 
European competitors, and applied the names to their products of a similar charac- 
ter, as, for instance, Malaga, to wine of the Malaga grape; Port, to wine of dark 
color, heavy in body, and ver^^ rich, made under process similar to same wine 
made elsewhere: Sauterne, to white, dry wine containing small proportion of 
acid; Claret, to a light-red table wine, made as all such wines are made the world 
over, excepting that our products are purer and generally better; Champagne, to 
all sparkling wines; Cognac, to brandy distilled from the grape and peculiarly 
treated. 

These names were given to these goods because they were necessary to the arti- 
cle, just as much so as cologne (which took its name from the city where it was 
first made) is looked upon as identifying the article and not making claim of 
place of manufacture. Instance, also, Brussels carpets, Russia leather, Morocco 
leather, Swiss cheese, Axminster carpets. Cashmere and Tweed cloths, Dresden 
and other china ware, Burgundy, Sherry, Muscatel. Tokay, Curasao, Cognac, 
French mustard, Dutch metal, German silver, Spanish point lace, English muf- 
fins, and French confections. 

The American producer claims equal quality, and for many things superiority, 
to the foreign articles, but our trade would never have reached its present great 
proportions if they had not used these names. 

By enacting the law proposed the manufacturers would be compelled to adopt 
new names to designate these goods. What names could be used to make known 
to the consumer the fact that the things advertised and oilered for sale are the 
particular goods heretofore known by the familiar names so many years in use? 
How could an intending purchaser know what to ask for unless he still persists in 
calling it by its old familiar title? It will certainly require years to educate our 
people up to this, while meanwhile our foreign cousin would reap his harvest and 
our brother at home would be ruined. 

The producer does not pretend, nor does the consumer for a moment believe, 
that these generic names indicate origin. The former merely labels them thus 
for the purpose of identification of a brand or kind, and the latter buys them fully 
understanding it. In fact, the only opportunity to misrepresent is held by the 
foreign manufacturer, who through his agents here is supplying our people with 
spurious and inferior goods. 

It is a fact well known by consumers as well as dealers that but very small 
portions of sherry, Madeira, port. Burgundy, Cognac, and Tokay are made or 
shipped from the localities where they were originally made and introduced and 
from which they derived their names. Vast amounts of imported inferior or 
imitation sherry are made in and shipped from Hamburg, Bremen, Cette, etc. 
The greater portion of our imported ports are made outside of Oporto and are 
shipped from Cette, Tarragona, and Hamburg, and the greater portion of our for- 
eign Cognacs come from Bordeaux and points other than Cognac. 

Medford rum was originally distilled in the town of that name, but the market 
is supplied to-day by many distilleries located elsewhere, with the best quality of 
the article so named, and if the use of the name were to be prohibited, the market 
would suffer, because the plant situated in Medford is inadequate to supply the 
demand, and those located elsewhere would suffer great financial loss, to the benefit 
of no one. 

One could go on for hours naming the many articles of domestic manufacture 
that are covered by these same conditions and show the great pecuniary loss that 
would result from the adoption of this suggested act, but it does not seem to me 



472 ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

necessary, as it would simply be duplication, and I will therefore only mention 
a few. 

Bourbon whisky was first made in Bourbon County, Ky., but the market is sup- 
plied in chief by distilleries located in other parts of the country with what is 
known as Bourbon whisky, the name being looked upon not to indicate origin, but 
to distinguish a certain kind of whisky made out of certain ingredients under a 
certain process. 

Selters water, or Selzer water, derives its name from the town in Hesse-Nassau, 
Germany, where first discovered, and the name has since been applied to all min- 
eral waters, whether natural or manufactured, which contain the same properties. 
This does not deceive or mislead the public, for they clearly understand the 
designation. 

Russia leather is an article made under a peculiar process and unlike other 
leather in appearance. It derives its name from the fact that it was first made in 
Russia, and because of the demand at home our manufacturers went into its pro- 
duction, and, in order that it might be identified and disposed of, attached the 
original name to it, and it has since held its place in the markets of the world. 

Our potters, after many years of trial and the outlay of large sums of money, 
have succeeded in producing chinaware equal if not superior to many sent from 
abroad, and in order to compete with their foreign competitors were compelled 
to and did apply the names by which they were known to the world, to wit: 
Dresden ware, Belleek ware, carlsbad ware, and the like; if they were to be 
deprived of this right they would suffer irreparable loss and an industry which 
our Government has done much to foster would be ruined. 

Our carpet manufacturers have taken first place with their goods, to which, 
because of style, they have applied the old familiar names, such as Brussels and 
Axminster. What will they do if not allowed to continue these names? 

Our brewers, in order to properly brand their light and heavy beers, have 
adopted names such as Pilsener, Culmbacher, Franciskaner, Munchener, Braun- 
schweiger, etc. The consumer very well knows that they are not imported, nor 
do the brewers pretend that they are; but the passage of this law will compel them 
to adopt new names and cause great injury. 

What names, I again say, shall the American producer adopt for his goods if he 
may not use those alluded to? What names shall be given to port, sherry, Tokay, 
Madeira, Burgundy, Cognac, Champagne, Muscatel, Russia leather, French calf- 
skin, morocco, plaster of paris, Prussian blue. Frankfurter sausage, French soups, 
Nubian blacking, German silver, Dutch metal, Brussels carpet, Axminster carpet, 
Swiss cheese, Jamaica rum, French spirits, and Curagao? 

Long usage has given to these names a meaning far different than indication 
of origin. On the contrary, they are looked upon as designating a particular 
article thus long described, and not indicating place of production. 

We claim that such legislation as this is not only unjust, but unwise and entirely 
unnecessary. Sufficient law already exists for the protection of both dealer and 
consumer. Sections of chapter 11, United States Revised Statutes, better known 
as the Dingley bill, requires that a stamp or label in legible English words shall be 
placed in a conspicuous place on all goods imported, showing the country of its 
origin. Surely this provides every safeguard against false designation, and the 
public are fully protected. 

We desire to raise an objection to the constitutionality of the proposed enact- 
ment. The courts have held that except for the right of the Government to pro- 
tect the revenue, an act compelling shippers to mark their packages, etc., in a 
manner to plainly show the kind and contents can not be sustained. 

The right to sell such goods within the confines of a State belongs only to that 
State, and Congress has no jurisdiction. (Vance v. W. A. Vandercook Co., No. 1, 
170 U.S. Rep., 438; Scott v. Donald, 160 U. S. Rep., 58.) 

It is a part of the power of each State to make its own police regulations, and 
upon the arrival within its jurisdiction of any wines or liquors it has sole control 
over them as though they had been produced there. (Act of Congress passed 
August 8, 1890, 26 Stat., 313, c. 728; in re Rahrer, 140 U. S. Rep., 545.) 

Finally, we desire to object to the consideration of this class of legislation by 
this commission upon the ground that it does not belong to trade-mark or copy- 
right, but belongs to revenue legislation only. 

The Revised Statutes, section 3449, which provides that "whenever any person 
ships, transports, or removes any spirituous or fermented liquors or wines, under 
any other than the proper name or brand known to the trade, as designating the 
kind and quality of the contents of the casks or packages containing the same." 
he shall forfeit the same and pay a fine, is not a trade-mark regulation, but is for 
the prevention and detection of fraud on the revenue. (United States v. 132 
packages of liquors, 76 Fed. R. 364, S. C. 22, C. C. A., 228. ) 



ADULTERATlOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 473 

Thus, while it is held that such legislation does not properly belong to copyright, 
the court sustained the act solely because it was a measure for the prevention and 
detection of fraud on the revenue, whereas the legislation contemplated will only 
grant special protection to private individuals and not affect the revenue whatso- 
ever, for whether Cognac or port have new names or still continue under their old 
designations, the revenue is not affected in the slightest degree. This being so, all 
the authorities hold such an act as unconstitutionM. (See also Trade-Mark Cases, 
100 U.S. Rep., 82.) 

STAETMENT OF F. J. CRILLY. 

Regarding the foregoing testimony of Mr. Hochstadter, the follow- 
ing letter was afterwards received by the committee : 

New York, December 15, 1899. 
Hon. W. E. Mason, 

United States Senate, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: While your committee was in session in this city Mr. Sigmund 
Hochstadter, of 227 Front street, this city, wrote you a letter denying the state- 
ment of Mr George B. Sadler, of Bonforfs Wine and Spirit Circular, that the 
United States Government was defrauded annually of $6,000,000 by the fraudu- 
lent refilling of imported bottles and the local imitation of foreign labels. While 
it is hard to make an estimate of this loss, it is generally believed that Mr. Sad- 
ler's figures underestimate it. The country is flooded with these imitation goods, 
which are sold as the imported articles, and the fraud will continue as long as the 
difference between the custom duty and the internal-revenue tax is as great as it 
is at present, unless Congress passes some very stringent law governing the case. 
We all believe in domestic manufactures, provided they are sold as such. It is 
only when dishonest dealers have labels, bottles, caps, and corks falsely marked 
with the exact names of foreign manufacturers, also with an alleged country of 
origin falsely placed on cases and bottles, and sell these counterfeit articles as 
genuine, that the public are deceived and the revenue defrauded by the difference 
between $1.10 per gallon, the internal-revenue tax, and $1.75 per gallon, the cus- 
tom duty on the imported article, and in the case of liquors by the difference 
between $1.10 per gallon and $2.25 per gallon. 
Very truly, yours, 

F. J. Crilly, President. 



TESTIMONY OF JAMES JACKSON. 

James Jackson, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. Please state your business. 

Mr. Jackson. I represent the fruit interests — the fruit importers, 
the fruit growers, and the fruit exporters of the State of New York. 

The Chairman. Is there an association of fruit growers. 

Mr. Jackson. Yes. 

The Chairman. What is the name of the association? 

Mr. Jackson. The Fruit Importers' Union. 

The Chairman. Of New York? 

Mr. Jackson. They act as a main body. They consult as an organi- 
zation. 

The Chairman. The committee will be glad to hear from you, Mr. 
Jackson, any facts that will enable us to arrive at an intelligent con- 
clusion regarding the duty committed to us. We are directed to 
inquire as to all adulterations of food, whether those adulterations 
are injurious to the public health or are a mere fraud upon the con- 
sumer by pretending to be what they are not. 

Mr. Jackson. I presume you have read something of the Ford law. 



474 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman, That is the law of this State, known as the Ford 
law? 

Mr. Jackson. Yes. 

The Chairman. Has it become a law? 

Mr. Jackson. Yes. It is now a law, since the 1st of September. It 
applies to the State of New York. 

The Chairman. What are its provisions, briefly. 

Mr. Jackson. It prohibits anybody givinj^ or selling compounds 
representing them to be something else. If they give you something 
supposed to be lemonade, it must be lemonade. 

The Chairman. Would you suggest some national legislation of 
that kind? 

Mr. Jackson. We are looking to this committee for relief. I 
expect to head a committee during the coming session of Congress to 
advocate the putting of the Ford law on the national statute book. 
We shall be very active in trying to convince you gentlemen that the 
law would meet a long-felt want throughout the United States. 

The Chairman. I certainly think it would be very wise to have some 
law, if it can be made uniform and fair, to prohibit men from selling, 
for instance, a thing called extract of cherry or strawberry when there 
is no cherry or strawberry in it. 

Mr. Jackson. During the last ninety days I have collected some- 
thing like 400 samples and have had a great many of them analj^zed 
by the New York School of Pharmacy, and it would astonish you to 
know what they contain. I have gone along Sixth avenue at night 
with a number of agents, picking up these things from different 
cafes, and the result shows something astonishing as to the manner 
in which the public are abused. Forty-eight arrests have been made 
for offenses of that character within a short time. 

The Chairman. I wish that within the next week or ten days you 
would be good enough to send me a copy of what you call the Ford 
bill and make a written statement of the result of the chemical 
analyses of these different articles you mention. 

Mr. Jackson. I will do so. 

The Chairman. I will have that embodied in the record as a part 
of your evidence. 

Mr. Jackson. That will be agreeable to me. I shall also send to 
Washington all the samples. 

The Chairman. Very well. If you will send them to me as chair- 
man of the committee, I will keep them safely and explain their 
significance to the other members of the committee. 

Mr. Jackson. Some of them, that I have collected in this very 
district, contain "knock-out drops." 

The Chairman. What are "knock-out drops?" 

Mr. Jackson. A kind of drink that has chloroform in it, I believe, 
or' something of that nature. What we need for the protection of 
the people regarding pure food and drink is some Federal law that 
will be similar to the Ford law and strong enough to protect the 
interests of honest dealers. 

Of course we in the fruit business are materially interested in the 
subject. 

The Chairman. And you believe that the interests of the honest 
fruit merchants and of the purchasers of fruit are identical? 

Mr. Jackson. Yes. 

The Chairman. And whatever protects you protects the consumer? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 476 

Mr. Jackson. Yes; we have suffered a great deal during the past 
few years. 

The Chairman. Yet, you have not suffered nearly as much as the 
children who have eaten or drank the stuff. 

Mr. Jackson. That is true. 

The Chairman. So that your mission, although a commercial one, 
has a strong moral side to it. 

Mr. Jackson. Yes, that is true. What we want is a law by which 
everybody who manufactures sirups shall stamp on the bottle what 
the bottle contains. We do not want to drive anybody out of busi- 
ness, but we want things to be properly marked. I was indorsed by 
every responsible man in the drug business throughout the State in 
aiding the passage of the Ford law, and I hope to have the aid of your 
committee this next winter before Congress in this direction. In 
many cases I have found a cheap grade of oil of lemon mixed with 
tartaric acid. Even in many drug stores from which samples were 
taken we found some cases of this character. Some of these soda 
sirups are terrible compounds. They have aniline dyes in them. I 
have picked up in various places 5 gallons of stuff that was supposed 
to be pure lemon juice. A box of lemons is worth $3 in the market, 
and it would take almost 5 boxes of lemons to make that much lemon 
juice. If it were really lemon juice, it would not be sold for less than 
$20 at a profit. Yet it was sold, or held for sale, for children, at 20 
cents for 5 gallons. The man from whom that stuff was bought is a 
large manufacturer, and he has not bought a lemon or an orange in 
three years. I have informed many of the people from whom I bought 
my samples that we were going to enforce the law against them. I told 
that man that if he continued that practice, we should enforce the law 
against him, and he has not sold any for some time. 

You can imagine the importance of this question to men who have 
large interests in the fruit business — anywhere from $10,000 to 1100,000 
of capital. They are grievously wronged by these imitators. Toward 
the remedying of that wrong the Ford law^ was a beginning. 

The Chairman. It was an entering wedge. 

Mr. Jackson. Yes; I am interested personally, as a citizen in hav- 
ing pure food sold in the community, and am interested as a business 
man in seeing that my business is protected. 



Committee on Manufactures, United States Senate, 

Imperial Hotel^ New York City^ Novefmber W^ 1899. 

TESTIMONY OF J. A. NORTH, 

J. A. North, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your occupation. 

Mr. North. I am with Bartram Brothers, No. 62 Pearl street, New 
York City; they are exporters of butter. 

The Chairman. The committee will be glad to hear what you may 
desire to say on the subject of butter. 

Mr. North. I met this morning on 'Change Mr. Cracke, the deputy 
commissioner of agriculture of the State of New York, and he said 
that he had seen you, Mr. Chairman, and that he had learned that the 
boracic-acid people had been before you and presented their case. 



476 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

So far as boracic acid i.s concerned, I wish to present the question 
simply as it is related to the butter industry. Technically or theoret- 
ically, I may say I know little about boracic acid, but commercially I 
understand its relation to the butter industry. 

The article butter containing boracic acid is forbidden to be imported 
into many countries on the continent of Europe and into the South 
American States, under one penalty — confiscation. It would seem as 
if an argument regarding boracic acid in butter should stop right 
there. It would seem as if that were enough. I repeat, confiscation 
is the fate of any package of such butter entering any country of 
Europe excepting Great Britain and France. Those are the only two 
markets open to it. I am speaking now of exports from this country. 
American butter does not go to the Argentine Republic or Australia. 

As applied to butter, men may tell you that boracic acid is a neces- 
sity, yet out of the 9,000,000 packages of butter that went into Great 
Britain last year only 19 per cent had boracic acid, and of that quan- 
tity France got 800,000 packages, of which it sent to Australia over 
half a million packages. Taking France and Australia as the basis, 
there was but 19 per cent of the butter that went into Great Britain 
last year that had in it boracic acid, while Denmark put in 2,800,000 
packages, or nearly one-third of the total, without one particle of 
boracic acid. Denmark not only rules the butter market in Great 
Britain, but is gaining in America from year to year. In South 
America Denmark is the competitor of all nations. More butter goes 
to southern climates in tins from Denmark than from any other coun- 
try, and it is all free from boracic acid, because the laws of those 
countries decree the confiscation of butter treated with such acids if 
found inside the territory. In Brazil it never gets past the custom- 
house. 

As to European States, there is no anti-boracic acid law in Germany, 
except that under which the board of health conducts its operations. 
In the other countries the adminstration of their laws on this subject 
comes under either the agricultural department or the customs depart- 
ment. That leaves France and England free from all antiboracic-acid 
laws. The other States have national laws. 

The Chairman. Do you mean to say that Germany excludes such 
butter ? 

Mr. North. Germany excludes it. 

The Chairman. German}^ excludes butter having boracic acid under 
their general pure-food law, on the ground that it is deleterious to 
health. 

Mr. North. Boracic acid is one of the acids named in the law. 

The Chairman. Then there is a law in force there? 

Mr. North. There is a law in force, but its administration does not 
come under the customs or the State authorities. I wish to separate 
that from the other countries, because all the others are operating 
under State laws. 

The Chairman. But they have a law about boracic acid ? 

Mr. North. Yes; I have to stamp on every bale *•' guaranteed free 
from boracic acid." 

In 1897, when the exposition was opened at Rio Janeiro, I put up 
1,680 pounds of butter in 1-pound tins with one-quarter of 1 per cent 
of boracic acid. Those were to be exhibited at the National Exposi- 
tion that was to last for six months. That butter never got through 
the custom-house. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 477 

I wrote to Mr. Conger with regard to the matter, he being then the 
United States minister in that country, and he replied that we had 
violated the law. There were three other confiscations of butter, and 
one of the parties told me that he was not guilty of the charge made 
against him. I had only then begun the study of boracic acid, and I 
believed it was as harmless and noninjurious as salt, and I believe so 
to-day — apart from the commercial reasons affecting its use. 

The Chairman. You believe that phj^sically or chemically it is as 
harmless as salt, but that for commercial reasons its use ought to be 
regulated here in order to protect those of our people who wish to 
export and sell our goods abroad ? 

Mr. North. That is it exactly. So far as concerns the harmlessness 
of boracic acid, I have taken a half ounce of it in a glass of water and 
it has done me no harm whatever. 

The question of boracic acid in England has not been settled yet. 
Arrests are made there all the time because of its use. 

The Chairman. If there is no law on the subject, how can they 
arrest people for its use '^ 

Mr. North. The law is in the counties. I can not tell you how it 
comes about that the arrests are made; but if you take the London 
Grocer, you will find mention made of arrests in certain counties 
because of the use of boracic acid, while in other counties the users go 
scot-free. 

Dr. O'SuLLiVAN. It is not possible to have shire legislation as to 
pure food in England. The shires in England are parts of an integral 
whole. 

Mr. North. What I state is so, however; that arrests are made in 
some counties and not in others. 

Dr. O'SuLLiVAN. I think you must surely be mistaken, so far as the 
law is concerned. It may be administered more rigorously in one 
county than in another. 

Mr. North. If our commissioner of agriculture were here he might 
be able to explain it. I will ask Mr. Cracke whether I am not right. 

Mr. Cracke (deputy commissioner of agriculture of the State of 
New York). Yes; but it may be, as the gentleman sa3^s, that the differ- 
ence in the different counties is owing to different methods of admin- 
istering the law. 

One advantage of American butter being absolutely pure is that 
American butter, if pure, is taken into the English markets all ready 
to be sold again to go to the Continent, something which can not be 
done with either French or Australian butter, because those contain 
boracic acid. That retards the commercial opportunities of those but- 
ters in a degree equal to whatever demand may arise outside of France 
and Great Britain. If American butter is kept free from boracic acid, 
and it arrives in London, Southampton, or Liverpool, it is there sal- 
able to go out of Great Britain to the Continent or any port anywhere 
where there are antiboracic-acid laws. Those laws would exclude the 
French or Australian butter, and would restrict sales from Great Britain 
so that French and Australian butter could not be sent into countries 
having antiboracic-acid laws. 

Mr. North. It is best for our American goods to have an open mar- 
ket all over the globe, something which boracic-acid goods have not. 

The Chairman. The converse of the proposition is true, is it, that 
if American butter goes to England with boracic acid in it its sale is 
limited 'i 



478 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. North. Yes, that is the idea. If it goes free from boracic acid 
it has the markets of the world from Great Britain as it has from New 
York. 

With regard to the effect of boracic acid on the butter, it retards 
the fermentation of butyric acid, which is the putrefaction fermenta- 
tion, which is the last of the ferments. Boracic acid accelerates the 
formation of butyric ether and stearic acid, which are much worse than 
the acidity which would exist without the boracic acid. Butyric ether 
is only a fugitive condition in butter.- The action of stearic acid is the 
return of the butter to tallow — its return to nature. Boracic acid 
accelerates these two putrefactions in the ratio of three to one. In 
other words, boracic acid accelerates a condition which is many times 
worse than the condition of acidity which it retards. 

It is literally true that boracic acid does not preserve. If it restrains 
rancidity or butyric acid only to accelerate other acids, then it does 
not preserve. But it does retard the action of butyric acid, which is 
rancidity. 

The Chairman. You do not, then, consider it as good a preservative 
as salt? 

Mr. North. I could not answer as to that. I think it is as good in 
that one regard, but it retards the other actions which are far more 
detrimental to the goods. 

During the past winter I made a few addresses at Albany on this 
same subject, and in order to convert me, Mr. Harris, of the Preservi- 
tas Company, brought to Albany four samples of butter put up by 
their process, in order to refute my statements — four different kinds of 
butter from four different foreign markets. Within four weeks he 
called on me. One of those samples was still sweet, while the others 
were one mass of butyric ether; decayed. I said to him, "What 
shall I do with these samples? They are silent evidence that my 
argument at Albany was right." He said, "Throw them in the ash 
barrel." 

Another point that I desire to present on this question is this: Did 
you ever have a creamery man, a buttermaker, exporter, or merchant 
come to you and ask you to favor boracic acid? On the contrary, do 
they not rise up in an army against it? This movement for boracic acid 
is for dividends, and dividends only. If butter is to be sent abroad 
and find an open market it must be without boracic acid, and the oppor- 
tunities of the butter business ought not to be retarded by having this 
article in our butter. 

The countries that I have mentioned, excepting Great Britain and 
France, have antiboracic-acid laws. The Danish law went into effect 
April 1, 1897, and the law of Brazil about thirty or sixty days after- 
ward; I will not say with exactness just how soon. 

The Chairman. But the}^ have a law against it ? 

Mr. North. Yes. 

The Chairman. That is because public opinion is against its use ? 

Mr. North. Yes. 

The Chairman. I have never heard of a milkman or dair3"man 
favoring boracic acid, but I will say that large shippers have come 
before our committee — exporters of meat, for instance — who brought 
telegrams addressed to them ordering, say, so many hams, " boraxed," 
meaning treated with boracic acid. Is that not what it means? 

Mr. North. Yes; that is right. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 479 

The Chairman. I wish to keep my mind free from prejudice on this 
as on every question. Now, you have this difficulty: If boracic acid 
is found in the butter which you export and if you should happen to 
export that butter to any country except Great Britain and France it 
would be confiscated. 

Mr. North. "Capital punishment" is declared against it, as if it 
were a crime. 

The Chairman. It hurts your business reputation, and it is always 
bad for a merchant to have his reputation suffer. But here comes a 
meat man who shows to our committee a number of orders in which 
meat was demanded, as they said " boraxed," and so much bacon 
"boraxed." And Dr. J. Frank Billings, one of the leading phj^sicians 
of Chicago, who is considered also one of the leading scientific men of 
his generation, and several other leading men, including chemists, 
informed the committee that there was nothing in the proper use of 
boracic acids that was deleterious to health. They said, as you have 
said, that it was a perfectly proper thing to take into the stomach. 
But I, not being informed as you have now informed me, with refer- 
ence to the operation of this material on that article, and as to the 
chemical effects upon the butter, have supposed that if it was a good 
preservative for meat it would be good for butter, so I am very glad 
you have given us the information. Have you any knowledge of 
what is called ''process butter," and do you know how it is made? 

Mr. North. Yes. 

The Chairman. Will you please state how it is made ? 

Mr. North. Yes. There are as manj' styles of making it as there are 
factories, but the point is to gather the sweetest product that is made 
on the farm — that is, dairy butter — put it into a kettle and "render 
it" at a temperature of 110 to 130 degrees, all depending on how much 
butter fat there is in the product. The stock is gathered together and 
the temperature to which it is boiled depends entirely on the season 
of the year, because butter fat to butter is what wool is to a gar- 
ment. In June or July the butter fat may run to 84 degrees, while 
in December it may run only to 61 degrees, because in the winter 
season the cattle eat only dry stuff. For June, July, or August 82 to 
84 degrees is a fair average, while for the winter 60 to 61 degrees 
would be nearer the figure. As I sa^^ it is rendered at a temperature 
from 110 to 130, and when the butter fat is ready it is precipitated. 

There are many ways of precipitating it. Cold water is passed over 
it for instance, and the oily matter being the lighter comes to the sur- 
face. As the oil comes up it catches and brings up all extra particles 
of animal fiber. You must remember that butter is composed of 5 
or 6 per cent of curds. In that way they get a neutral oil. Then 
they let it "settle." What I mean is, that if poured out at once it 
would be a mass of little bodies like white sand, there being no con- 
tact between the particles, but by letting it settle in a very cold tem- 
perature it will come to be like putty. And the secret of the reason 
why one is better than another is in the temperatures. It is then 
churned into butter and cream. The oil that goes into that is neutral 
or better than neutral ; there will be a little flavor to it. 

The difference in the value of butter to-day, to the extent of about 
10 per cent a pound, depends on flavor, yet the flavor is butyric 
ether and is a fugitive condition. It goes out of some butters in a few 
days and out of others in a few weeks. The butyric ether is churned 



480 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

out of the milk and cream into the butter and that constitutes the 
flavor. It is then packed and marketed in different ways. 

A tub of "process butter" made to-day and marketed to-morrow 
has a flavor that is entirely free from the mass; it was added to the 
oil; it was not a component part of the mass, and in consequence it 
goes away in the air. You buy butter to-day and it has this flavor; 
to-morrow it is gone. Some makers make it so that it lasts a week; 
others so that it will last only until to-morrow. That is all there is of it. 

The Chairman. You think that they do not use anything but the 
milk and cream ? 

Mr. North. They would be foolish to use anything else — there is no 
necessity for it. The man who gets the best value in the case of 
"process butter" is he who buys it to-day and eats it to-morrow. 

The Chairman. They appear to pick up some lots of butter of dif- 
ferent grades and colors and boil it and wash it ? 

Mr. North. Yes. 

The Chairman. They take out the impurities in that way and then 
churn it again ? 

Mr. North. Yes. What I know of it is not from contact, but I 
have been watching it. 

The Chairman. That would not be good butter to export, would it? 

Mr. North. No; the flavor would go. 

Mr. Cracke, The law of this State requires that such butter shall 
be labeled in large letters, "Renovated butter." 

Mr. North. There can be no doubt that this question of boracic 
acid is a giant. If the practice be persisted in of putting it in butter 
it will greatly retard our commercial opportunities. Many markets 
have changed from boracic acid markets to antiboracic acid markets. 
Yet you see these people advertising that their goods are put up "for 
English and other markets." 

TESTIMONY OF PROF. WILLIAM FREAR. 

Prof. William Frear, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. What is your profession ? 

Professor Frear. I am an agricultural chemist. 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Professor Frear. I live at State College, Pa. 

The Chairman. What position do you hold ? 

Professor Frear. I hold practically three positions, although they 
are in reality one. I am professor of agricultural chemistry in the 
State College of Pennsylvania; I am the vice-director and chemist of 
the State agricultural experiment station, and chemist to the State 
department of agriculture. 

The Chairman. Will you be good enough to state briefly the experi- 
ence and training you have had in your profession ? 

Professor Frear. I was educated as a chemist, studying especially 
at Harvard University, and after some brief experience in teaching 
general chemistry, I served for two years under Dr. Wiley as assist- 
ant chemist in the Department of Agriculture at Washington, leaving 
that position to accept that which I now hold. 

The Chairman. You have been informed of the general scope of 
this investigation ? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 481 

Professor Frear. Somewhat indefinitely; yes. 

The Chairman. We are expected to report to the Congress upon the 
necessity of pure-food legislation. First, as to articles of food that 
are deleterious to the public health, and next as to articles of food that 
are sold in fraud of the consumer. Have you, in the course of your 
investigations, come across any food that you considered deleterious 
to the public health ? 

Professor Feear. I have found very little that could be distinctly 
asserted to be injurious to health in the quantities in which the materials 
are commonly used, unless it be from the cumulative effects that might 
result from the continuous use of such materials. From such cumu- 
lative effects positive injury might result, particularly in the case of 
persons of rather weak digestion. I refer to the use of foreign color- 
ing matters, both mineral and coal tar in their origin. 

Most of the impurities which 1 have found in food result from the 
desire to produce a cheap substitute for standard articles, for the pur- 
pose of entering into competition with an unfair advantage over those 
standard articles. The consequence has ])een that the consumer has 
received what was very frequently an article inferior in value, from a 
nutritive standpoint, and also that the consumer has been obliged to 
pay for the article he has purchased a very much higher price than he 
ought to have paid for that particular article, even granting that it 
might have some considerable food value, simply because it was sold 
out of its class, with a misbrand upon it. The further result has been 
that the man who has been intending to be honest in his business has 
been forced into competition with the people who have sold inferior 
articles, and in too many cases has been forced to do as the others did 
to avoid bankruptcy, the final result of course being a great detriment 
to the morality and honesty of men in business life. 

The Chairman. You have found in many cases men adulterating 
their goods who openly admitted that they were doing so, as men have 
come before this committee, who said that they would like a law to 
stop the practice? 

Professor Frear. I have found many merchants who bought goods 
with misleading brands, and who said that they supposed from the 
price that they were not what they professed to be, and they did not 
want to inquire too closely, but sold them, as their competitors did, 
under the misleading brands, feeling that it was a necessity, and yet 
feeling that they would like to be protected from such necessity. 

The Chairman. Have you, in Pennsylvania, any State laws in regard 
to adulteration of foods ? 

Professor Frear. We have; that is to say, we have a number of 
special laws, and in addition to that we have a general pure-food law. 

The Chairman. What feature of that law do you consider most val- 
uable in the discharge of your duties? 

Professor Frear. I am not sure that I quite gather the purport of 
your question. 

The Chairman. What feature do you consider most valuable in 
stopping the adulterations ? 

Professor Frear. That which prohibits the sale; that which defines 
adulteration to consist not simply of the addition of injurious material 
or the subtraction of valuable material, but the selling of goods under 
a false brand; that is, goods which are really substitutes in whole or 
in part for high-priced materials. 
F p 31 



482 ADULTEEATIOT^ OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The Chairman. Then if I were to sell honey or an article marked 
"honey" in Pennsylvania which had no honey in it but was composed 
of glucose, could I be punished? 

Professor Feear. Yes, by fine; and in case of repetition of the 
offense, even by imprisonment. 

The Chairman. How long has that been the law of the State ? 

Professor Frear. The year of the enactment of our general pure- 
food law was 1895. 

The Chairman. Does it require the branding of the different articles 
on the package, or in what manner ? 

Professor Frear. That is left somewhat to the discretion of the 
State dairy and food commission, but it simply requires that what is 
branded shall not be false. It does not require in all cases that the 
ingredient shall be branded. The law purposely avoided that. 

The Chairman. That was for the purpose of not interfering with 
trade secrets ? 

Professor Frear. With legitimate proprietary articles. 

The Chairman. Suppose that I should brand a jar of material as 
maple sugar or maple sirup and it turned out upon analysis to be 95 
per cent glucose ? 

Professor Frear. For that you would be liable to punishment under 
the Pennsylvania law. 

The Chairman. What I have branded as maple sirup, however, may 
in fact have been composed of maple sirup to the extent of 5 per 
cent? 

Professor Frear. Yes; but I might say as to that 

The Chairman. I want to get at the idea of adulteration as contem- 
plated by the law. 

Professor Frear. It f oUows very largely the English definition. 

The Chairman. That is, the common-law definition ? 

Professor Frear. Yes. In this case you substituted 95 per cent of 
an inferior article without warning to the public. If you had labeled 
it 95 per cent glucose and 5 per cent maple sugar, you would not be 
liable to prosecution, but labeling it in the other way you would be. 

The Chairman. Do you have any standard for beer in your State? 

Professor Frear. No; we have not. The law has in very few cases 
fixed standards of foods, leaving the determination of the quality of the 
article to the judgment of the expert who examined it. 

The Chairman. What would you recommend as to a national law? 

Professor Frear. I am chairman of the executive committee of the 
National Pure Food and Drug Congress. 

The Chairman. Yes, I am aware of that. 

Professor Frear. I believe that the proposed law introduced several 
years ago, known as the Brosius bill, with the slight amendments which 
it has since undergone, is about as good as we can get in the way of a 
general bill. 

That bill fixes the labor of inspection upon a division of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture already established, constituting the Secretary of 
Agriculture the executive ofiicer in charge of the measure and making 
the several United States district attorneys to be the prosecuting oflS- 
cers in their respective districts, upon information lodged by the Sec- 
retary of Agriculture after such examination is made. 

The law defines adulteration broadly, and does not attempt to specify 
what foods are to be considered adulterated; that is, it does not indicate 
anything specifically by name, but simply rather establishes a broad 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 483 

fundamental law by which at the same tune proprietary secrets that 
are proper to be maintained are respected. 

As to the fixing of standards, the Brosius bill, as I understand it, 
does not establish any standard. It does require of the Secretary of 
Agriculture that he shall establish the standard. I understand that 
various legal minds have differences of opinion as to whether that is 
a proper provision or not. 

The purpose of that provision, however, was to make someone 
responsible for the securing in the first place of accurate information. 
The first draft of the bill made it mandatory on the secretary to do 
that through a specified commission, which commission was to be made 
up of those who were supposably experts and impartial judges — the 
association of official chemists of the United States, certain repre- 
sentatives of the American Society (to be designated by the president 
of that society for the purpose of introducing technical chemistry), 
who would introduce standards from the chemical standpoint, five 
physicians from the services of the Army, Navy, and Medical Hospital; 
and the further proviso was introduced that no standard should be 
adopted without full notice to all trade interests concerned, and oppor- 
tunity for a hearing on their part, in order that there may be no snap 
judgments and no hasty fixing of standards which would do injustice 
because of lack of information. 

The bill, as I say, originally made it mandatory, but owing to cer- 
tain objections on the part of members of the House of Representa- 
tives and of the Interstate Commerce people it was made permissive 
and not mandatory. 

My belief is that a measure of that general character would be supe- 
rior to the specific laws dealing with specific articles, because it estab- 
lishes a principle of action rather than making it necessary to take up 
special legislation for each new particular articles which may be here- 
after introduced into trade. 

The Chairman. This commission or board would be allowed to fix 
standards as exigencies arose — for instance, take the question of coffee 
alone. If you buy a dollar's worth of coffee you may get a certain 
percentage of caffeine. 

Professor Frear. Yes. 

The Chairman. That is the essence of coffee ? 

Professor Frear. That is the active, or so-called active, principle. 

The Chairman. You may buy another dollar's worth of coffee from 
another man, and not get one-half the percentage of caffeine that you 
did in the case of the first purchase? 

Professor Frear. Yes. 

The Chairman. Now, in the medical class of articles, I understand 
that there is a fixed standard. For instance, when you say " quinine" 
you know how much of the active principle of quinine there is in a 
grain or a gram. If they were to adulterate that, there ought to be 
some way by which a man would know what he was getting and what 
he was paying for. 

Professor Frear. It is a great question to-day, whether the chief 
food or drink value of coffee is dependent wholly or most largely upon 
this material, caffeine. We know that the physiological properties of 
tea and coffee are different, 3'etthe principle is the same in both cases. 
In attempting to frame standards there must be great care exercised 
not to go into details too much. 

The Chairman. So it is with beer; some of it has 5 per cent of 



484 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

malt extract, some has more and some less, but there might be a 
standard fixed above which it should or must go. 

Professor Freak. In order to bear a certain trade name ? 

The Chairman. Yes; in order to bear a certain trade name. There 
has been some talk before this committee, and some complaint, to the 
effect that some proprietary medicines, in common use — the names of 
which I have forgotten — sarsaparillas, for instance, and mixtures of 
that kind, contain a poison if taken in too large quantities. What is 
this article commonly spoken of that is used as extracts for sarsapa- 
rillas? 

Professor Frear. I have not made any effort to examine that class 
of articles. And so I would not attempt to give specific information. 

The Chairman. In matters of that kind — standard proprietary 
articles — where they contain substances that in themselves are poison- 
ous in an overdose, would you be in favor of having them marked? 

Professor Frear. I believe that nothing of that kind, in the quan- 
tities in which they might be used when applied to the purposes for 
which they are ordinarily applied, should be allowed to be labeled as 
innocuous. 

The Chairman. You think that they ought to be marked — that if 
they contain poison it ought to be so marked ? 

Professor Frear. Yes. 

The Chairman. As a warning to people not to take an overdose ? 

Professor Frear. Yes. They ought to be warned specifically of 
what is there, or warned that an overdose should not be taken. 

The Chairman. It has been stated in this room — whether stated for 
the purpose of being placed on record I do not know — that certain 
extracts and certain sarsaparillas and cordials and things of that kind, 
for coughs and colds, contained a large amount of poisonous substances 
which, if taken under the direction of a physician, might not be 
dangerous, but which really were dangerous in an overdose and in 
some cases have been known to cause death, by overdoses, because of 
there being no marks on the bottles. 

Professor Frear. I have no special knowledge of my own on that 
subject, at first hands, but my knowledge has come to me from those 
who have made such examinations, to the effect that there are such 
things in cough medicines and other proprietary articles — large quan- 
tities of narcotic substances. 

The Chairman. Ipecac, for instance. 

Professor Frear. In a large number of proprietary articles. 

The subcommittee adjourned until Wednesday, November 22, at 
10.30 a. m. 



New York City, November ^^, 1899. 
TESTIMONY OF ANTONIO ZUCCA. 

Antonio Zucca sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. What is j^our business, Mr. Zucca? 

Mr. Zucca. I am agent for several large Italian houses; Italian 
producers. I have the honor of being president of the Italian Cham- 
ber of Commerce of New York, and 1 suppose it is for that reason that 
I am subpoenaed here. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 485 

The Chairman. I have a communication with regard to olive oil, 
in which your name is mentioned as that of a gentleman who can give 
us some information on that subject. The committee will be glad to 
hear anything that you desire to present with regard to olive oil and 
its adulterations. 

Mr. ZuccA. A few years ago, when Senator Faulkner, of West 
Virginia, presented what is known as the pure-food bill in the Sen- 
ate of the United States, the Italian Chamber of Commerce of the city 
of New York took a great deal of interest in the matter. The object 
of that chamber is to develop and advance business relations between 
the United States and Italy, and to see that the products coming to 
this country from Italy are not adulterated in this country. Such 
adulterations would, of course, be a detriment to the trade of importers 
who are doing a legitimate business. 

There have been some adulterations in wines brought from Italy, 
but that is done rather upon a small scale; hardl}^ large enough to do 
any great harm. 

The olive-oil business, however, is very much affected by adultera- 
tions. Since the American people have been traveling so much and 
have got into the habit of using pure olive oil, the article has been 
much adulterated, especially in the markets of New York, Chicago, 
and New Orleans, 

Olive oil is one of the most healthy condiments, probably equal to 
butter; and the reason that it is adulterated in this country is that it 
does not pay to send cotton-seed oil to the other side and pay 50 per 
cent duty to get it back here. So the people who adulterate this oil 
import olive oil from Europe and adulterate it here in New York. 

Professor Rossati, for the Italian Chamber of Commerce, examined 
several brands here and found some containing as much as 97 per cet t 
of vegetable oil, lard oil, and oils other than pure olive oil. Of course, 
that is a great wrong, not only to the consumer but to those who import 
the genuine olive oil. People in New York adulterate the Italian oil 
and place on it the same brand as it would have if it came from Europe, 
with sometimes perhaps the least possible difference, such as one letter 
more or one letter less in the spelling of the name of the maker, so as 
to protect themselves from criminal prosecution. They imitate, here, 
almost all the brands of good, respectable houses on the other side, 
with, as I say, only some very slight difference^ and of course, they 
sell the product for pure olive oil. 

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in New York does not object to 
the sale of the other oils if they are sold under their proper names. 
If people wish to drink cotton-seed oil they have a right to do so, but 
it should be known what sort of oil it is, and the importers ought not 
to be misrepresented. Such oil should not be marked or labeled as 
from Lucca, when it is only cotton-seed oil or linseed oil. 

We think therefore that there ought to be a law which would make 
it a punishable offense for people to mark cotton-seed oil with a label 
reading "olive oil." In this State of New York we have a butter and 
oleomargarine law which makes it an offense to sell oleomargarine for 
butter. The quantity of oil sold lately in the United States is very 
large, and therefore we think it would not be anything but proper for 
the honest dealer to be protected by the passage of a proper law. 

The Chairman. A law which would also protect the consumer ? 

Mr. ZuccA. Yes. 

The Chairman. Then you would favor a national hiAv which, while 



486 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

not prohibiting the mixing of cotton-seed oil with olive oil, would 
require that if those oils are mixed they should be so marked? 

Mr. ZuccA. Yes. There are large concerns interested in cotton-seed 
oil, as such — trusts — so that every national law and every State law that 
we have tried to enact has been pigeonholed through the influence of 
those parties, because they thought it would be a detriment to them 
not to let the people drink cotton-seed oil. If a man's taste has been 
cultiv^atedto the point at which he will want pure olive oil he certainly 
will not want cotton-seed oil; and if he is to get cotton -seed oil, then at 
least he ought to know it. 

The Chairman. We have had several other witnesses before us on 
similar questions, but not on the question of olive oil. 

Mr. ZuccA. The Italian Chamber of Commerce can give the commit- 
tee any quantities of samples and memorandums regarding every brand 
sold in New York. Some of the samples have been found to contain 
all the way from 10 to 97 per cent of cotton-seed oil. 1 think that 
about two-thirds of the olive oil sold in the United States is mixed oil. 

The Chairman. What is the value of pure olive oil? 

Mr. ZuccA. It can be landed here at wholesale, including duty from 
the other side, at $1,55. 

The Chairman. A dollar and fifty-five cents a gallon ? 

Mr. ZuccA. Yes; that is, in large quantities. 

The Chairman. And large quantities of cotton-seed oil, how much? 

Mr. ZuccA. The best, 39 cents. 

The Chairman. Per gallon ? 

Mr. ZuccA. Yes; it is manifest to me that it would be right for the 
public and for the honest importers to have such a law as we advocate. 

TESTIMONY OF ADOLPHUS BUSCH. 

Adolphus Busch, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. Where do you reside? 

Mr. Busch. In St. Louis, Mo. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Busch. I am president of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Asso- 
ciation. 

The Chairman. How long have you been engaged in that business, 
Mr. Busch? 

Mr. Busch. Since 1866. 

The Chairman. You consider yourself a practical brewer, as well 
as business manager ? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. You give your time now, in connection with the 
association, to the management of the business generall}^ ? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you personally visit and see from day to da}" 
the process of brewing? 

Mr. Busch. Yes; all brewings are made under my directions and 
orders. 

The Chairman. This committee, under a resolution of the Senate of 
the United States, is investigating the question as to what food prod- 
ucts are manufactured that are deleterious to public health, and what 
food products are manufactured out of proper articles but sold in a 
way to deceive the consumer. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 487 

Mr. BuscH. Yes; 1 understand so. 

The Chairman. I desire to ask you, as I have asked other gentlemen, 
some general questions. I do not wish to inquire into any of your 
trade secrets or your private business. 

Mr. BuscH. I have no secrets. 

The Chairman. Will you be good enough to tell the committee what 
you make you beer of? 

Mr. BuscH. The beer of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association 
is made absolutely of barley malt, hops, yeast, and water. 

[Note. — Toward the close of his testimony Mr. Busch stated that in the manufac- 
ture of some very pale beers of the Bohemian type, some rice is used by his company, 
not for the purpose of cheapening the beer, inasmuch as rice is more expensive than 
barley malt, but in order to produce a fine, pale, vinous beer of the Bohemian type. ] 

The Chairman. Do you use any corn ? 

Mr. Busch. Never. Corn is an article that does not make a high 
grade of beer. 

The Chairman. There have been gentlemen here who testified before 
the committee that when they use other cereals besides barley malt — 
for instance, corn — it is used in an unmalted state. 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. You understand that to be the custom? 

Mr. Busch. Yes; it is a raw product. 

The Chairman. Will you give to the committee the benefit of your 
experience as to the difl'erence in a general way between using this 
"raw product" and a malted product? In other words, it is not corn 
malt? 

Mr. Busch. No; it is unmalted. 

The Chairman. And it is used as a substitute for barley malt? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. Why do you call it "raw?" 

Mr. Busch. Because it does not go through the malting process. It 
is the original corn as it is grown, only the outside shell is taken off. 
Corn contains starch, exactl}^ like barley, wheat, and oats, but a differ- 
ent kind of starch, though it all leads to the same result. In mixing 
it up with malt, the starch of a raw product is dissolved and trans- 
formed into sugar. Corn contains a certain amount of oily substances, 
and those oily substances are transformed partly into fusil oil after the 
fermentation, but the quantity of oil is not so large as to make the 
quality of beer injurious to health, according to my view. But just 
this oily matter is the reason why I state that corn added to barley 
malt does not make a high grade of beer. 

The Chairman. The question whether or not it would be deleterious 
to health would depend largely on the amount consumed; that is, you 
do not consider fusil oil a particularly^ healthy article ? 

Mr. Busch. No; I do not consider it particularly health}^, but the 
quantit}^ is not so large as to be a very important factor. It is a factor, 
but not of great magnitude. 

The Chairman. Do you use any antiseptics in the Anheuser-Busch 
brewings ? 

Mr. Busch. Never. 

The Chairman. Do you use boracic acid or salicylic acid ? 

Mr. Busch. Never. 

The Chairman. In none of your breweries? 

Mr. Busch. In none. 

The Chairman. And no corn i 



488 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. BuscH. No corn; never have used it. 

The Chairman. How do you preserve your beer? 

Mr. BuscH. Beer is preserved by age. If beer has the proper age 
in the cellar before being turned out for consumption, it needs no pre- 
serving article of any kind or nature. What spoils the beer is the 
yeast which may still be in the beer when it is handed over to the trade 
for consumption, but if beer "lagers" sufficiently, say from three to 
four months, more or less, all yeast that is contained therein settles 
and the beer is pure of yeast, and therefore needs no preservatives 
when sold to the trade. 

The Chairman. By the term "lagers" — when you say that if the 
beer "lagers" sufficiently — you mean if the beer is stored sufficiently 
long? 

Mr. BuscH. Yes. 

The Chairman. Lager beer, then, means simply stored beer? 

Mr. BuscH. Yes. Good beer should have a lager of at least, as a 
minimum, three months — from three to six months. 

The Chairman. You mean to say, then, that you store your beer for 
three months? 

Mr. BuscH. Yes; no beer leaves the Anheuser-Busch Brewery that 
is not at least three months old. I am alwavs speaking now of fine 
grades of beer. We do not brew any other. 

The Chairman. Suppose you bottle it; do you use the pasteurizing 
process ? 

Mr. BuscH. Beer that is bottled has to be five months' old if it has 
to go over the line — to Australia and the tropics. 

The Chairman. There is more danger of fomentation or fermenta- 
tion in bottled beer than there is in the other? 

Mr. Busch. No; on the contrary, there is more danger in draft 
beer than in bottled beer — more danger of a second fermentation. 

The Chairman. The second fermentation takes place when some of 
these little particles of yeast develop? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. And they are likely to develop ? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. And the longer it is stored the more they develop? 

Mr. Busch. Yes; the more they settle and develop from the beer. 
They settle right in the bottom of the cask. 

The Chairman. And in letting it out there is always some danger? 

Mr. Busch. No; we tap the cask so high that there is no danger of 
flow of the yeast settlement. The yeast which settles settles down 
very hard. 

The Chairman. In your bottled beer do you use any acids of any 
kind? 

Mr. Busch. Never. 

The Chairman. And never have done so ? 

Mr. Busch. Never have. 

The Chairman. Do you use preservatives of any kind? 

Mr. Busch. Never; and never have done so. 

The Chairman. Do you use any glucose ? 

Mr. Busch. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you use any coloring matter? 

Mr. Busch. No, sir. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 489 

The Chairman. How is the color of the beer fixed 'i 

Mr. BuscH. That is the product of malt which is dried under dif- 
ferences of temperature. In the case of pale beer the malt is pre- 
pared on a lower temperature. In the case of dark beer the malt is 
prepared at a higher temperature. They differ about 20 degrees — 
running from 45 degrees to 65 degrees. With 65 degrees of heat there 
is a higher heat than in the other case. 

The Chairman. It is somewhat like the browning of coffee ? 

Mr. BuscH. It is the same exactly. You can have a pale coffee or 
you can have a very dark one. It is a sort of roasting system. 

The Chairman. By 65 degrees do you mean 65 degrees Fahrenheit? 

Mr. BuscH. No; 65 degrees of Reaumur. 

The Chairman. Speaking still of this high -class beer, the coloring 
is fixed by the conditions of the malt? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. And the coloring of the malt is effected by the 
greater or less degree of heat? 

Mr, Busch. Yes. It is a very poor brewer who uses coloring mat- 
ter. Or rather, I may say he is no brewer at all. 

The Chairman. In the case of your bottled beer, which you export, 
have you adopted a system of pasteurizing? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. What is that system ? 

Mr. Busch. It consists of heating the beer in the bottle. After it 
is bottled and wired, the beer is put under a heating process in a tub 
tilled with water, and that water is brought to a temperature of say, 
50 degrees Reaumur. By this hot bath which the beer receives any 
germs of yeast that may yet remain in the beer, which are not visible 
naturally, will be destroyed, and the beer will keep in any climate for 
a long time. 

The Chairman. Take the case of Germany, generally, I would like 
to ascertain whether there is a uniform law in regard to beer in that 
country, 

Mr. Busch. No, sir. 

The Chairman, In some States of Germany they have one rule, 
and in some others another rule, 

Mr. Busch. Yes; in some States they allow a raw product to enter 
into the manufacture of beer and in some they do not. For instance, 
they permit the use of rice in water to make a pale, tine, vinous beer 
of the Bohemian style. They use that in Bohemia. In Bavaria the}' 
use nothing but malt, hops, water, and yeast. In Prussia they use 
rice also to a certain degree. 

The Chairman. To make beer with rice is more expensive than with 
malt? 

Mr. Busch. It is the most expensive of all. Rice beer is the highest- 
priced beer made, but the quantity of rice used in those beers is very 
limited. It is hardly 10 per cent. 

The Chairman. Do they in Germany have a standard of beer — a 
test? 

Mr. Busch. No. 

The Chairman. Do they have one in Bavaria ? 

Mr. Busch. No; there is no standard of beer. The beer is only to 
be made of barley malt, hops, and yeast; that is all the standard there 
is about it. 



490 ADULTEBATION OF FOOD PEODUOTS. 

The Chairman. But they can make it as rich or otherwise as they 
please ? 

Mr. BuscH. Yes; you can make it a cheap beer by making it thin, 
using- a common article of malt and hops, or you can make it a fine 
beer by using the very finest malt and very finest hops. 

The Chairman. In the case of Bavaria, I understand that the Gov- 
ernment collects its revenue on the amount of barley that goes into 
the brew? 

Mr. BuscH. They collect the revenue on the amount of malt that 
enters into the brewing process. 

The Chairman. But they do not limit the amount of beer that you 
can make out of that malt? 

Mr. BuscH. No. 

The Chairman. You may make one bottle or twelve ? 

Mr. BuscH. No; they have a standard average that they get out of 
a certain amount of malt. 

The Chairman. That is a business custom, rather than a law? 

Mr. Busch. It is a business custom, yes. The revenue is so much 
per hundred pounds of malt. 

The Chairman. After that you can make as much beer as 3^ou please 
out of it? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you can sell water for beer if you want to do 
so — that is, there is no law to prevent jou ? 

Mr. Busch. No. So far as I recollect there is no law. 

The Chairman. As to this pasteurizing process, do you use that in 
all bottled beers? 

Mr. Busch. Not in all; only in beers which we export — say either 
to California or Southern points, or those which we export to foreign 
countries — China, Australia, the East Indies, South America, etc. 

The Chairman. And you state as a brewer and a practical man that 
this process of pasteurizing alone, without the aid of any preservative, 
preserves your beer wherever you send it, all over the world ? 

Mr. Busch. Yes, sir; and we have got the reputation in all parts of 
the world of making the finest bottled beer; the most perfect; and we 
preserve it by that process. 

The Chairman. And you have no complaint of fermentation for 
lack of preservatives ? 

Mr. Busch. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you think that there ought to be a law to forbid 
preservatives in beer? 

Mr. Busch. If the committee finds that there are any preservatives 
used that are injurious to health, I would favor such a law. 

The Chairman. Not only is it clear that we shall find such to be the 
fact, but the brewers have testified that they use preservatives, 
although physicians say that the preservative is in such small quanti- 
ties that it would not be deleterious to health unless people took too 
much of it. 

Mr. Busch. I am pretty much of the same opinion. If you make a 
law, you ought to make a law for the minimum standard of beer, giv- 
ing to those brewers who want to make the very best beer, a chance 
of maintaining competition. Prescribe a minimum standard, and let 
the competition have its method of making a finer beer in the best way 



ADULTEEATTON OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 491 

they can, and maintain the life of competition. If you should make a 
law which should say that we should all have to make a uniform beer, 
where would the good brewer come in? He might just as well close 
up. There would be no pleasure in the business any longer. 

The Chairman. You make in your brewer}- different kinds of beer? 

Mr. BuscH. Yes, we American brewers are showing to the Euro- 
peans that we can make as good beers as any in the world. I claim 
that we make a better beer than any in Europe; and in Europe they 
agree to that. They do not agree to it here, but thej^ do on the other 
side. 

The Chairman. How many different kinds do you make ? 

Mr. BuscH. We make eight different kinds; pale, medium, dark, 
strong, light, a strong-hop beer, and a less-hop beer — just according 
to the desire of the trade and their wishes to meet the palates of 
everybody. 

The Chairman (showing paper to witness). Here is what is sup- 
posed to be a chemical combination of standard beers, beginning with 
lager and running along to export and bock beer and ale, porter, and 
condensed beer. It is supposed to be a standard, fixed as to v/hat 
would be a fair beer each in its class, by Professor Rupp, of Ger- 
many, who studied these matters carefully. I understand he is a Gov- 
ernment chemist and has charge of the Government station at Karlsruhe. 
Please glance over that memorandum and give us your opinion of it. 
We do not expect you to give an accurate analysis as to the different 
ingredients, but state generally your opinion of those percentages, 
with reference to their constituting a standard beer. 

Mr. BuscH. (Examining the paper). Is this a German opinion? 

The Chairman. You see that what is known as lager beer there 
contains a certain amount of malt extract to a certain amount of 
alcohol ? 

Mr. BuscH. Is that an official document from abroad ? 

The Chairman. No; I do not present it as such. It is handed to me 
by a friend here, who says that that is what he understands to be the 
standard fixed. I only wish to know if it is in the neighborhood of 
what you would consider a fair standard for these different kinds of 
beers. Of course there must be great leeway. 

Mr. BuscH. Yes; certainly there must. I believe that the standard 
ought to be established exactly by the quality of material that is used. 
For instance, say corn ; it makes a standard beer — corn and barley malt 
mixed. Pure malt-and-hop beer makes what you may call an ' •■ export " 
beer, if you want to put different grades on it, and then go on and say 
what percentage you ought to have. 

The Chairman. Yes; the minimum percentage. 

Mr. BuscH. The minimum percentage. 

The Chairman. And then go on and give an opportunity for the 
better man to make a better beer? 

Mr. Busoh. Yes. 

The Chairman. But you would favor, as I understand it, a law that 
would state a minimum, say, of malt extract and other materials going 
into beer? 

Mr. BuscH. If it is shown that articles are put into beer that are 
injurious to health, I would favor the passage of a law to protect the 
public, but if the examination does not show any such thing there 



492 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

would be no need. You have laws enough for everything already, I 
suppose. 

The Chairman. But a good brewer can brew to any standard, can 
he not? 

Mr. BuscH. Oh, certainly. 

The Chairman. And if the law were to say, " Here is the minimum," 
not stopping to fix a maximum, but saying, "Here is a minimum, to 
which all must reach," that would not affect any good brewer in this 
country ? 

Mr. "Busch. No. 

The Chairman. It would affect all equally. 

Mr. Busch. No law would affect a good brewer. 

The Chairman. Except that it might possibly compel his competi- 
tor to protect the public ? 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. As in the case of a flour bill that we passed last 
year. 

Mr. Bush. Corn might be mixed with flour, certainly. That was a 
case of adulteration, but one not injurious to health; and the product 
was not very bad, either. 

The Chairman. No, but it was not what it was sold for, 

Mr. Busch. No. Some bakers pronounced it better than the wheat 
flour. But still it was wrong. 

The Chairman. It is a business fraud. 

JMr. Busch. It is a business fraud. 

The Chairman. Since that bill was passed I am happy to say that a 
great increase has taken place in our exports of flour. It became 
known everywhere that our Government had taken charge of the 
matter of a standard of flour. They have captured over 10,000 barrels 
that was mixed. That which contained white corn was not perhaps so 
bad, but it was the starch that came from the glucose factories, from 
which the gluten and all life-giving substances had been taken, that 
made the article so inferior. 

Mr. Busch. Yes. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestion that you desire to make 
to the committee ? Speaking for myself, as one member of the com- 
mittee, I will sa}^ that beer is a very important product, not only to 
the manufacturers, but to the consumers; and if you have any sug- 
gestion, in addition to what you have already given, as to the enact- 
ment of a law on the subject, I should be very glad if you would give 
the conuuittee tbe benefit of it. 

Mr. Busch. I believe I have explained the situation pretty fully, 
and I do not think that I have an}^ special suggestions to make. 

The Chairman. The main point, I understand, then in your evidence 
is that there is no need of preservatives for beer ? 

Mr. Busch. No need; absolutely not. 

The Chairman. And that malt, hops, and water make the best 
beer? 

Mr, Busch. Yes; make the finest beer and the finest beer only. 

The Chairman. And that a minimum standard of beer would not be 
oppressive against the honest brewer ? 

Mr, Busch. No; not at all. 

The Chairman. And that such a standard would do no harm to the 
man who intends to give a fair article of beer and would be a benefit 
to the consumer? 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 493 

Mr. BuscH. Yes. 

The Chairman. So that the consumer gets what he asks for? 

Mr. BuscH. Yes; the main thing is that the articles that should 
enter into the brews should be mentioned. I am not opposed to corn; 
only I say that corn does not make a high grade of beer. I am not 
opposed to it at all. 

The Chairman. You never have taken any evidence or heard any 
evidence as to the healthfulness of brewing a raw material — an 
unmalted cereal ? 

Mr. BuscH. No; I do not think there can be any good evidence 
against it. 

The Chairman. 1 have a letter here from the Conmiissioner of 
Agriculture of the State of New York, which I have recently received, 
dated the 16th of November, in which he takes the position that there 
should be a standard for beer, and that the use of unmalted material 
is bad. 

Mr. Busch. Is bad? 

The Chairman. Yes. He says it does not ripen. He says: " We 
can not stop drinking, but we can provide that the commodity offered 
for sale shall carry as little harm as possible. I understand that the 
American beer drinker of five years' standing is in a worse position 
than the German beer drinker of a lifetime," by reason, he states, of 
the adulterations. 

Mr. Busch. Who is that? 

The Chairman. That is the commissioner of agriculture of the State 
of New York. 

Mr. Busch. Permit me to say, with all due respect, that the com- 
missioner is not posted. I say that the American drinker of twenty 
years is in a better condition, if he drinks fine beers, than the German 
beer drinker of five years. But he must select what he drinks. If he 
is only intelligent enough to drink a good beer, that is the fact. It is 
the same thing in Germany, There are good and bad beers in Ger- 
man}". The American intelligent beer drinker is as healthy as the 
beer drinker in any country in the world. 

The Chairman. That may be so. The statement of the commis- 
sioner of agriculture refers only to those who drink adulterated beers. 

Mr. Busch. W^ell, the people ought to patronize the honest manu- 
facturer. There is where they make a mistake. 

The Chairman. Did you say that in your brewery you use any rice? 

Mr. Busch. I do not know whether I spoke of that. We use some 
rice in our very pale beers. 

The Chairman. I think j^ou said that. 

Mr. Busch. We use rice in some kinds of very pale beers of the 
Bohemian type. I should like that statement to appear where I say 
that we use malt, hops, and water only, if I did not make the qualifi- 
cation. 

The Chairman. Rice is a more expensive product ? 

Mr. Busch. Exactly; the most expensive of all. 

The Chairman. Much move expensive than barley malt? 

Mr. Busch. Oh, doubly so. 

The Chairman. Then it is not used in order to cheapen the beer? 

Mr. Busch. Oh, no; it makes a fine pale beer — of a vinous charac- 
ter, of the Bohemian type. 



494 ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



LETTER OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, STATE OF 

NEW YORK. 

The following is the letter of the commissioner of agriculture of 
the State of New York, referred to above: 

State of New York, 
Department of Agriculture, 
Albany, K Y., JVovemhe?- 16, 1899. 

My Dear Sir: I have just noted in one of the papers the following 
statement made by you : 

" Senator Mason, in speaking of the committee's work, said: 

" 'Our investigations up to date have disclosed a remarkable state 
of affairs. The United States is the only civilized country in the 
world which does not set a certain standard on its food products. By 
setting a high standard, as European nations do, we would not only pro- 
tect the honest producer and consumer, but also increase our exports, 
for people have faith in our Government; and if they know that the 
food is inspected and there is plainly marked on each article exactly 
what it is composed of, they are more ready to purchase it. 

" ' We are also attacking adulterated food that is deleterious to 
health, and I think that when we hand in our report next month Con- 
gress will legislate on the matter, so that the present condition of 
affairs will be remedied.'" 

Permit me to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on the position you 
have taken as to the question of standards for food, and more particu- 
larly as to drinks. It is believed b}^ a goodly portion of citizens of 
this State that there should be a standard for beer, so that a person 
buying it to drink could feel sure he was not taking anything injurious 
into the system. Of course I am not setting myself up as a judge in 
the matter, but am only speaking of the opinion that prevails. This 
is based to considerable extent upon the fact that twenty years ago 
there were a number of malt houses in this State that were doing a 
flourishing business; that to-day they are closed up with boards over 
their windows, and the land that was raising barley, from which malt 
was made, is now producing other crops to be placed upon an already 
glutted market, which is another reason why farming does not pay. 
In addition to this fact the acreage of hops now is much less than it 
was fifteen or twenty years ago, with an increased population and a 
greatly increased consumption of beer. 

It would be hard to make people not financially interested in the 
production of beer believe that all this change was brought about in 
the interest of the consuming public or in the interest of health. 

The fact that a person who represents the brewing interests appears 
before your committee and states that the beer brewed after the English 
manner was just as good and wholesome as that made of hops or malt 
and cheaper will carry no conviction with it, in my judgment, except 
the conviction that it is cheaper. This is one of the questions that 
needs careful attention, because the commodity goes into the human 
stomach to make for weal or woe. We can not stop people drinking, 
but we can provide that the commodity exposed for sale shall carry 
as little danger as possible. I am informed and believe that the 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 495 

American beer drinker of five years' standing is in a much worse con- 
dition than the German beer drinker of a lifetime. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

C. A. WiETING, 

Commissioner of Agriculture. 
Hon. Wm. E. Mason, 

Heiv York City. 

The subcommittee adjourned to reconvene at Washington, D. C, 
upon the call of the chairman. 

TESTIMONY OF JOHN F. HOBBS. 

John F. Hobbs, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your occupation, Mr. Hobbs. 

Mr. Hobbs, I am editor of the National Provisioner. Dr. Senner, 
late Commissioner of Immigration, is the proprietor of the paper. 

The Chairman. Where is the paper published? 

Mr. Hobbs. The publication offices are 150 Nassau street. New York 
City, and the Rialto Building, Chicago. 

The Chairman. Your name was given to me as that of a gentleman 
who takes great interest in the matters pending before the Committee 
on Manufactures, and if so we should be glad to have a statement from 
you with reference to those matters. 

Mr. Hobbs. I may say that I ought perhaps to apologize for not 
appearing before the committee voluntarily, but it was because we did 
not wish to be in the position of throwing evidence at the committee. 

AVe are always ready to assist the Government with reference to any 
matters affecting pure food. We have assisted the Department of 
Agriculture in many ways, and we are certainly in favor of some 
measure that will protect the public and the honest manufacturer with 
reference to matters afi'ecting the purity of the food and drink of the 
people. And in correspondence with others I find that there is a very 
general feeling throughout the trade for a strong national measure 
which will protect both the manufacturer and the eater. If a man 
goes to buy an article, he wishes to get what he is buying, and when a 
man desires to sell an article he should sell it on its merits; and no 
trade tricksters ought to be permitted to come in and take his market 
from him with something that is "just as good." 

Some time ago Professor Dufl", who is himself a practical chemist, 
and whom we secured after he had had fifteen years' experience with 
packing houses in the West, conducted, through our laboratory depart- 
ment, a large number of experiments on foods. As foods came out 
we made a habit of analyzing them. I told Mr. Wilson, Secretary of 
Agriculture at Washington, that we would give him an}^ data in our 
possession; and I am sure that Dr. Duff will be glad to give it to this 
committee. 

In our correspondence and investigations among the packing-house 
trade we find a general complaint against spurious food articles. They 
put up things which they call by improper names, and pvit them out 
in the trade for the things whose names they bear, sometimes without 
specifying any firm name. There is a disposition on the part of some 
tradespeople to remove the labels, and not only that, but to remove 



496 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

even the product from the package and place it in a similar package 
and relabel it. I will instance what 1 mean by a reference to the 
manufacture and sale of oleomargarine. I have received personally 
compounds, and have visited one place where a duplicate package or 
bucket is held; the outside is heated and the butter product is bodily 
lifted out and put into this other package, and then it is relabeled 
" creamery butter." That is not right. 

The Chairman. No; that is a violation of the present United States 
law. 

Mr. HoBBS. And of the law of the State of New York also. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. HoBBS. In our analyses we find that the legitimate butter com- 
pounds are healthy in themselves; that is, they are free from dele- 
terious substances; they are made of animal and vegetable fats — some 
of them, the best quality of them — and are sold as such. But a man 
who goes into a store to pay, and pays, 25 cents a pound for butter 
does not expect to buy an 18-cent product. And the packers them- 
selves have complained to me that they are under ban on account of 
this. 

You could obtain further evidence on these matters from chemists. 
But I may say, in brief, that there is a general opinion throughout the 
trade that a good national law should be passed. We are not against 
a law which shall state that the can shall contain what the label states 
that it contains as nearly as possible. Then we know what is inside. 

Reverting to the question of olive oil, as to which a gentleman testi- 
fied before your committee, 1 have bought olive oil in Marseilles and 
found on the package the word "Cincinnati." It was sold to me as 
pure Italian olive oil. I told the man from whom I purchased it that 
it was an American oil. "Why," he said, "olives grow wild in Cin- 
cinnati." He thought Cincinnati was an Italian port. 

The Chairman. This occurred, you say, in Marseilles, France? 

Mr. HoBBS. Yes. It seemed to me very strange to find an olive oil 
in Marseilles labeled "Cincinnati" and considered to be an Italian 
product. 

Because of the investigations in our own laboratory we are, as a paper, 
in favor of a strong national pure-food law— a law that would provide 
a correct standard; that will insist on certain chemical purities, and 
give proper designations on the packages, so that the buyer can see a 
correct description of what he is buying. We desire this not only for 
the integrity of our home trade and in behalf of our honest manu- 
facturers, but for the integrity of our trade abroad, and in order to do 
justice to the honest importers and the honest foreign manufacturers. 

Speaking from the point of view of the editorial department, I wish 
to say that I will be glad to file with your committee later on any 
data which you may wish to look over and append to your report. I 
do not know that there is anything else that I desire to say unless you 
wish to ask me some special questions. 

The Chairman. I believe there is nothing special that I wish to ask. 
1 thank you for your willingness to give us the data to which you refer, 
and also for your opinion regarding a proposed national law. I will 
ask your chemist a few questions. 



ADULTEEATIOI^ OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 497 



TESTIMONY OF JAMES C. DUFF. 

James C. Duff, .sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Will you please state your business or profession, 
Mr. Dutf? 

Mr. Duff. I am an analytical chemist and the official chemist of the 
New York Produce Exchange. My practical profession may be termed 
that of packing-house expert. 

The Chairman. Have you taken a course of studies to prepare your- 
self for your profession? 

Mr. Duff. I am a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology. 

The Chairman. Your studies in that institution included, of course, 
analytical chemistry ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. 

The Chairman. How much experience have you had in analyzing — 
how many years have you been at the work since your graduation? 

Mr. Duff. About fifteen years. 

The Chairman. Do you find any adulterations in the food products 
of the country that you have had occasion to examine ? 

Mr. Duff. The food is largely adulterated. 

The Chairman. Name some of the adulterations. 

Mr. Duff. Well, during the course of an investigation which I was 
asked to undertake last summer, I found that, practically, you might 
say, there are adulterations in all grades of foods, although I do not 
for a moment claim that all food is adulterated. You can buy pure 
coffee and you can buy coffee that is adulterated. Pepper is perhaps 
one of the most largely adulterated things in the market; you can 
seldom get it pure. I found in pepper such things as cracker meal and 
ground corn and other refuse. I found that mustard was largely 
exhausted, if I may use that term; very few, if any, samples that 
came under my observation containing the maximum amount of oil of 
mustard that should be there. The great adulterants are starch and 
flour, colored up with turmeric. In the matter of condensed milk I 
came across a sample in which it was hard to find any fat whatever. 
Naturally condensed milk should contain a large amount of fat, but it 
was largely sophisticated. There are good brands, but there are very 
many brands that ought to be prohibited from being put on sale, and 
those are sold — as I purchased mine — for 2 cents a can. That is sim- 
ply criminal, to my mind, for the reason that it was only the poorer 
class of people that got them. To feed such material to a hungry 
child would be to starve it to death. Such adulterations should be 
denounced as criminal, although, in fact, it might be classed as harmless 
to health. 

The Chairman. But it is sophistication ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. 

The Chairman. And considering that it is a food for infants and 
invalids, it is more of a crime than if it were something that well 
persons would take? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. Butter that I found was renovated. You under- 
stand what "renovated butter" is, I suppose? 

The Chairman. I wish you would state to the committee what it is 
and how butter is renovated. 
F p 32 



498 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Duff. All classes of butter, irrespective of conditions, are col- 
lected and remelted at as low a temperature as it can be handled; it is 
then sweetened with milk and rechurned, if possible — the rancid acids 
or free fatty acids are eliminated largely — and worked up into the trade 
condition that it is ordinarily subjected to, by manipulation, into 
packages resembling creamery butter. 

The Chairman. The rechurning is simply a washing, really ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. 

The Chairman. That gets the acids out? 

Mr. Duff. Yes; and in order to bring back the natural texture and 
appearance, as far as possible; but the chief point is to eliminate the 
rancidity of it or the fatty acids. 

The Chairman. Those that float on top? 

Mr. Duff. No; they are soluble in water. The rancidity is butyric 
acid and ethers. 

The Chairman. And when the water is taken off, they are taken out? 

Mr. Duff. Yes; and it leaves the grease. 

The Chairman. You would not consider that butter unhealthy ? 

Mr. Duff. No; 1 would not consider it detrimental to health, but it 
is simply a fraud. 

The Chairman. It is simply what has been butter, replastered and 
revarnished ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes; like many other things it is simply a fraud on the 
buyers, but it is not detrimental to health. 

With regard to soda water, 1 examined some soda-water sirups in 
soda that is sold for five cents a glass. For the five cents I had to stop 
the man from giving me more of the syrup than I wanted. I found 
that the sweetening base was saccharine and not sugar — saccharine 
colored up with aniline. 

The Chairman. Colored with an aniline dye? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. Most of these things of which I speak were pur- 
chased in very poor localities. I did not find enough of this dye pres- 
ent to be deleterious to health, if only one glass of soda were taken, 
but I would not say what might not result from the continuous use of 
such material. 

With regard to fruit jellies, it is very difficult indeed to obtain a pure 
fruit jelly, most of those being subjected to the usual sophistications, 
glucose being largely the base. 

Catsups are largely sophisticated and artificially colored. 

Olive oil is, as we all know, very largely adulterated with other 
edible oils, such as cotton-seed oil and peanut oil, when the price is con- 
sistent with their use. 

With regard to tea, 1 came across one very poor sample, although 
it might have been that the impurity was an accidental impurity in the 
sample which, with another gentleman, I purchased. It contained 
many other things than tea; the pods of seeds; there was some hair in 
it, though that might have been accidental, as I say ; the stems consti- 
tuted the heavy portion of the sample, and the thing itself was almost 
entirely lacking in theine. 

The Chairman. That is the essence and particular matter of the 
tea? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. It would give one the impression that it was an 
exhausted tea; that is to say, tea which had been used once and was 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODIJCTS. 499 

collected and dried again. I would not say that that was the tact, but 
one would get that inference from the sample. 

Those constitute, to a greater or less extent, some of the investiga- 
tions which I am still pursuing. We of the National Provisioncr 
propose to follow up this line, with the view of assisting the Govern- 
ment in framing a law which will protect the public and further the 
passing of this law, which certainl}^ is sadly needed. 

The goods adulterated were universally the cheap articles. I have 
not come across what you might term absolutely poisonous adultera- 
tions. 

The Chairman. That is, if used in small quantities ^ 

Mr. Duff. Exactly; if used in the quantities which a single meal 
would entail. 

The Chairman. And you favor a national law, do you? 

Mr. Duff. Decidedly so. 

The Chairman. What is meant b}^ "facing tea" and what is meant 
by "weighting it"? 

Mr. Duff. Facing tea is putting a surface on it and giving it, per- 
haps, a different appearance from what the product would naturally 
have. 

The Chairman. How is it done ? 

Mr. Duff. By treating the tea with a solution, in order to give it 
an external coating; a solution, or it may be a powder. Ultramarine 
has been used for facing some teas. 

The Chairman. And with reference to weighting it; how do they 
make tea heavier? 

Mr. Duff. That would include weighting. 

The Chairman. That is all done in one process ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you believe that a great deal of that has been 
done ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes; in the cheaper grade of teas. In coffees it is a 
delicate thing to draw a line between what is adulteration and not 
adulteration. The ordinary adulteration law, as drawn by the various 
States, would preclude the treatment of coffee as it is treated by many 
manufacturers. That is to say, when the coffee is roasted more or less 
of the water which, in its original state, it contains is driven off. 
When coffee is changed from cold to hot much more moisture evapo- 
rates. To avoid that, coffee is treated to a solution, a very small quan- 
tit}' of a solution, so that the coffee is coated with a solution, which 
dries on it, thereby preventing further evaporation and keeping the 
weight in the coffee. 

The Chairman. As I understand, the roasting process naturally 
drives out the moisture? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. 

The Chairman. And I understand that they preserve the moisture 
or drive it back into the coffee by this process you describe ? 

Mr. Duff. Yes. 

The Chairman. Have you described the whole process ? 

Mr. Duff. I have only spoken of the glazing; it is before the 
process of roasting. 

The Chairman. But before this glazing is put on is there not some 
way of preserving the moisture? 

Mr. Duff. There might be. You take 100 pounds of coffee and 



500 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

roast it, and, assuming for the moment that there would be 15 per cent 
of moisture in it and that 15 per cent is gone, can you put it back 
and make the lot weigh 100 pounds again ? I doubt it. 

The Chairman. You could put some moisture back. 

Mr. Duff. It does not seem credible to me that a roasted thing can 
contain as much water as a raw thing. 

The Chairman. Not immediately after roasting, but it might be 
immediately steamed and the moisture put back again. 

Mr. Duff. Yes; that might be. 

The Chairman. In 100 pounds that would not amount to much, but 
in a ton it would make a good deal. 

Mr. Duff. Yes. I do not say that it might not be so. I have con- 
siderable information as to this investigation that I conducted last 
summer, and if you wish I will submit you a brief of it. 

The Chairman. I shall be glad to have it. 

Mr. Duff. There are two kinds of mixtures in the market — one, as 
you might say, legitimate, and the other illegitimate. What I mean Ijy 
legitimate is such things as butterine and oleomargarine, made from 
perfectly good material under Government supervision. In those the 
Government is protected, notwithstanding that they are mixtures, 
whereas these cheap mixtures are frauds upon the public. If there 
are any other questions which I can answer I shall be glad to do so. 

The Chairman. There is nothing further that occurs to me. 

STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRMAN FOR PUBLICATION. 

At the request of the representative of the Associated Press, the 
chairman made the following statement for publication: 

1 feel that the committee is well repaid for the work we have been 
doing in New York, and am pleased to find a strong public sentiment 
here in favor of the objects of the investigation. I am particularly 
pleased to note the strong sentiment in favor of national legislation, 
every witness practically testifying that the laws of States, differing so 
much, as they might, the differences would prevent uniformity. In 
other words. New York, a great wholesale center, is interested in hav- 
ing a uniform law for marking its goods, to avoid the danger of one 
State violating the laws of other States which might require a differ- 
ent brand of their goods. 

I am thoroughly convinced that the public sentiment agrees with 
the position which this committee is taking, that a uniform standard 
of goods, under a national law, will be such a certificate of the char- 
acter of our products that it will increase the volume and the market 
price of our exports. 

This principle, I think, has been recognized by the manufacturers 
and wholesale merchants of New York who have testified here. Even 
men using and selling adulterated goods have said to the committee 
that they would gladly quit the practice or would mark the goods for 
what the}^ are if their competitors were compelled to do likewise. 

I think that the work of the committee will lead to such a consensus 
of public sentiment that we shall have a national law which will 
accomplish at least four things: 

First. To prohibit the importation into this country of articles 
manufactured abroad the sale of which is prohibited in the countries 
of manufacture. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 501 

Second. To prohibit the importation of refuse articles of food, such 

as can not be sold in the countries from which sent. 

Third. To prohibit the use of deleterious adulterants; and, 
Fourth. That when adulterants are used that are simply to cheapen 

articles, but which result in deceiving the purchaser, the law shall go 

as far as possible to compel the manufacturer and dealer to mark the 

package for what it actually is. 

The subcommittee adjourned to reconvene at Washington, D. C, 
upon the call of the chairman. 



Committee on Manufactures, United States Senate, 

Washin(/to7i, D. C, November '27 , 1899. 
The subcommittee reconvened at the rooms of the Committee on 
Manufactures, United States Senate, at 10.30 a. m. 
Present: Senators Mason (chairman) and Harris. 

TESTIMONY OF EDWARD R. EMERSON. 

Edward R. Emerson, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Where do you live? 

Mr, Emerson. In Washingtonville, N. Y. 

The Chairman. What is your business? 

Mr. Emerson, I am president of the Brotherhood Wine Company, 
which is a corporation. 

The Chairman. What do you manufacture ? 

Mr. Emerson. We manufacture champagne and still wines of 
different kinds — port, sherry, and claret. 

The Chairman. Where is your vineyard ? 

Mr. Emerson. We have a vineyard at Washingtonville, N. Y., and 
also a vineyard at Hammondsport, N. Y. 

The Chairman. You manufacture champagne and still wines at both 
places ? 

Mr, Emerson, Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What is your definition of champagne? 

Mr. Emerson. Champagne is a sparkling wine, made by the French 
process of fermentation in the bottle, which requires from three to fovir 
years to complete. 

The Chairman. Is there anything properly known as or that can be 
called champagne that does not ferment in the bottle? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes, sir; there is what in the trade we call a bogus 
champagne, made by taking a still wine and forcing into it carbonic 
acid, which is produced from sulphuric acid and marble dust generally. 
That is not considered in the trade to be a true champagne. 

The Chairman. In what particular does the American or domestic 
champagne differ from the imported or French champagne ? 

Mr. Emerson. There is practically no difference. They are made 
in exactly the same way by the leading companies. We are using the 
same methods and experience that it has taken them some two hun- 
dred years to acquire. We use exactly their methods. 

The Chairman. Do you have to age your wine that length of time 
here ? 



502 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; we never put a bottle of champagne on the 
market until it has been in bottles at least three years. 

The Chairman. What is the process of manufacture, briefly ? 

Mr. Emerson. The process is in the first place to have your grapes 
absolutely clean, well picked over, and the proper variety of grapes to 
produce the flavor that you wish in the champagne. Then it is crushed 
and the juice is put in barrels or casks and allowed to ferment. In 
the spring this wine is taken and put into a large tank — what we call 
a bottling tank — holding from two to four thousand gallons. It is 
then bottled, after the addition of some older wine. Champagne 
always contains more or less old wine. The perfection of the cham- 
pagne comes in in the perfection of the wine and in the careful and 
judicial selection of the grapes to make the original blend before they 
are pressed, and also in the care and skill that is taken in regard to 
developing the wine in regard to temperature. Then it is bottled 
and allowed to remain in a moderately warm place until fermentation 
commences in the bottle. As the fermentation proceeds the bottles 
break more or less, and that is the only way that we can tell how the 
fermentation is proceeding. After it gets to a certain point and the 
bottles are breaking too fast we move that champagne into a colder 
apartment, so as not to entirely chill the fermentation, but so as to 
lessen it and lessen the pressure slightly on the bottle. It is gradu- 
ally moved from one apartment into another until at the end of per- 
haps three, four, or six months it arrives at the coldest cellar that we 
have, which we call our storage cellar. There it lies in tierage, l3dng 
on the side, to keep this gas from escaping and also to economize 
space. It lies there from three to four years in properly made cham- 
pagne. Then it is taken and put on tables which have holes made 
through them — plank tables, set in the form of an A, with holes 
intended to hold the bottles. When it is first put in it is quite flat and 
a sediment is formed from the fermentation which falls directly to the 
bottom of the bottle in a little streak. It is shaken every day by a 
dexterous twist of the wrist and gradually raised up until in the 
course of some weeks — sometimes two weeks, but sometimes three 
months, according to the obduracy of the sediment to leave the 
bottle — it arrives at a vertical position. When the sediment is directly 
on top of the cork, then we take the champagne from there and 
take it up to the finishing room, carefully keeping the bottle with the 
cork down, so as not to disturb the sediment. In the finishing room 
it is disgorged; that is, the cork is dexterously taken — withdrawn — 
allowing the sediment and a small portion of wine to be removed. 
The escaping gas is allowed to blow out with the sediment. Then it is 
put on a finishing table and a small dosage is added to it to slightly 
sweeten it and render it a little more palatable. That addition is 
called dosage. 

The Chairman. What is the dosage made of ? 

Mr. Emerson. It is made of rock candy and old wine. A very small 
percentage is used. 

The Chairman. Does not the carbonic acid gas escape ? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; to some extent it does, but the bottles originally 
contain more of that gas than is needed. 

The Chairman. The investigation that this committee is conducting 
is intended to include all food products and all drink products — what, 
if anything, is deleterious, and what, if anything, is sold for what it is 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 503 

not. Do you, in your opinion, use anything that is deleterious to 
health? 

Mr. Emerson. Absolutely not. 

The Chairman. You have told everything that you use ? 

Mr. Emerson. I have told ever3^thing that we use. 

The Chairman. Do you have any competition with adulterated 
wines*' You understand, we do not want to inquire into any trade 
secrets of yours, nor do we ask you to testify about any private mat- 
ters of business, but we would like to know if there is any suggestion 
that you have to make upon these points that I have mentioned. 

Mr. Emerson. The great impediment to the increase in the sale of 
true domestic champagnes is largely in the prejudice that exists in the 
public mind against them — against American cihampagnes. That, per- 
haps, up to the present time, has militated to a considerable degree 
against the sale of our genuine, rightly produced champagnes in this 
country. 

The Chairman. I do not know that this committee could make any 
recommendations to remove prejudice, but if you have any manufac- 
turing competitor who is not dealing fairly with the public, we would 
be glad to know that. Do you have to compete with some of these 
.artilicial champagne people — this carbonated material, or with any 
other that is not genuine champagne ? 

Mr. Emerson. That, in my opinion, is what has caused the preju- 
dice against the true champagne. The carbonated product being 
artificial and being produced in ten or fifteen minutes, simply carbo- 
nated with artificial gas and made with any kind of wine and labeled so 
as to tell an untruth — they call that champagne which is not champagne 
in any sense of the word, and it has turned a great many American 
wine drinkers against the domestic champagne. People who have been 
in the habit of drinking wine would try that so-called champagne, and 
of course they would be disgusted with it, and they would never try it 
again, but simply make up their minds that all American champagnes 
were poor products. Every such man becomes an enemy of the true 
American product. 

The Chairman. What remedy would you suggest for that condition 
of afi'airs that this committee or the Senate could have jurisdiction 
over ? 

Mr. Emerson. I would suggest that the producers of such wines or 
such so-called champagne should be compelled to state on their labels 
what are the contents of the bottle, whether carbonated champagne or 
genuine champagne, although there is no carbonated "champagne" 
really. 

The Chairman. In other words, if it is a genuine champagne you 
would like it to be marked so. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. If it is made by generating its own carbonic-acid 
gas you want that fact stated. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. But if it is simply injected into new wine you want 
that fact to be shown on the label. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. I claim that it is a deception on the people, 
and those who sell the product should call it what it really is. 

The Chairman. Have you ever seen this process of making cham- 
pagne out of new wine, or what they call champagne ^ 



504 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. How do tney do that? 

Mr. Emerson. That is done exactly the same as they would charge 
mineral water or soda water. The wine is first put into bottles and 
then it is put into a machine connected with retorts containing gas. 
A little faucet is then turned, allowing gas to run into the bottle con- 
taining the wine, and perhaps it takes two or three seconds and then 
the bottle is taken quickly from the machine and corked. Then it is 
finished and labeled up and sold as genuine champagne. 

The Chairman. What is this gas; how is it produced? 

Mr. Emerson. It is largely produced, I think, and in fact almost 
entirely, from sulphuric acid and marble dust — sulphuric acid put on 
marble dust. 

Senator Harris. And carbonic acid gas is evolved, of course? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. Then they claim to purify their gas and wash 
it more or less, but even then it is not champagne. 

Senator Harris. Is there any distinction in your mind between 
genuine champagne and the wine that is charged with carbonic-acid 
gas artificially, so far as health is concerned — or, in other words, 
between a wine charged by carbonic-acid gas and a wine charged by 
the processes of nature? 

Mr. Emerson. There is a marked difference. In one case the wine 
contains carbonic-acid gas naturally. Carbonic-acid gas is an inherent 
part of the true champagne. In the other case it is artificial gas forced 
into the wine. The wine will take up a certain amount of this gas, and 
the gas being made from acid, the wine containing it produces a differ- 
ent result, especially after allowing it to stand for a short time. 

Senator Harris. You think there is a distinction of an absolute 
character between the carbonic-acid gas produced by the fermentation 
of the wine itself and the carbonic-acid gas produced in any other 
way? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes, sir; 1 think there is. 

Senator Harris. So far as health is concerned? 

Mr. Emerson. I think there is, sir. A carbonic-acid gas produced 
by the fermentation of grape juice, which contains all the elements to 
make the carbonic-acid gas which the wine holds in it, is a natural 
carbonic-acid gas, and it contains no impurities. 

Senator Harris. Well, carbonic-acid gas has a distinct formula. It 
makes no difference, does it, how that is produced, if you reach the 
point of pure carbonic-acid gas ? 

Mr. Emerson. Well, if it is absolutely pure I should say not, but 
we claim that they can not get a carbonic-acid gas absolutely pure. 

Senator Harris. You think there is more or less of sulphuric acid 
or sulphurous-acid gas, perhaps, contained in it? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; and the character of the gas itself is different 
because the character of the ingredients is different. 

Senator Harris. But we can produce the same thing from a variety 
of articles. 

Mr. Emerson. Well, for instance, in a carbonated glass of wine and 
a natural glass of wine there are different processes. In a natural glass 
of wine there is a natural gas when it is poured out, and you will notice 
that in the case of a carbonated glass of wine it sparkles for a few min- 
utes and is then dead, showing that the gas has been forced into it and 
is soon lost. In the case of a natural glass of wine, it will bubble for 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 505 

two hours. There is also a great difference in the sides of the bottle 
in the two cases. 

Senator Haeris. What evidence have you as to the relative health- 
fulness of the two classes of wine? 

Mr. Emerson. Well, I am not a chemist, and I do not know that I 
am competent to offer an opinion. 

Senator Harris. The object of this committee is, primarily, to pro- 
tect the health of the people. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. That is the essential point of this investigation. 

Mr. Emerson. I have never used any artificial wine except to sam- 
ple it. I have never drank it except in very small quantities. 

The Chairman. The artificial carbonic-acid gas can be put into new 
wine, but if it is to be natural it has to be made in old wine. In other 
words, it takes time to generate it in the old wine, does it not? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And if it is a natural champagne it is bound to be 
old wine? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

Senator Mason. And people understand that they are buying old 
wine when they champagne? 

Mr. Emerson. When they buy true champagne. 

The Chairman. And, of course, carbonic-acid gas may be injected 
into fresh, new wine? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

Senator Mason. That is, if put in by the artificial process? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. So that at least it is a sophistication aiid is intended 
to deceive? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. When it is put in fresh it is intended to deceive? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. If it is an old wine it will make its own gas? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. And in the case of new wine the}' put it in? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; they generally choose .young wine on account 
of its cheapness. 

Senator Harris. In your definition of champagne you spoke of wine 
that has undergone certain processses. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Would not a proper definition go farther back? 
Would it not mean grapes of a certain character or grapes grown on 
a certain soil, primarily — of course, grapes grown in a certain province 
of France? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; that was originally the true source or origin 
of the name champagne — grapes grown in a particular province of 
France. 

Senator Harris. A province of a very limited area ? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. Then the producers in that province of the 
wine called champagne in that district of Champagne got their ma- 
terials outside of their own district, and still they called their wine or 
their product champagne, until now the word "champagne" is a wine 
produced in a certain particular ^^ay, just as we speak of a wine pro- 



506 ADUIiTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

duced in a certain way as port wine, meaning a wine that is produced 
in the same way as wine was produced in Portugal originally. The term 
"champagne" now means a wine produced by the French or natural 
process of fermentation in the bottle. They speak of German cham- 
pagne and French champagne without any regard to the original 
Champagne district. In that way we take liberties with the name 
champagne. 

Senator Haekis. In your idea it is the adherence to the original 
process of manufacturing that constitutes champagne? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. As it was originally practiced in the province of 
Champagne ? 

Mr. Emerson. And as it is practiced now. 

Senator Harris. Yes. You mentioned certain changes that have 
occurred, but still it is practically the same process? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; they got outside wines to assist their own supply, 
their own supply being short. 

Senator Harris. Is there any other sophistication or adulteration 
that you know of used in what are called champagnes ? 

Mr. Emerson. No, sir; I do not know that there is. It is prac- 
tically impossible to adulterate a true champagne. The wine has got 
to be a true wine or you can not make a champagne of any merit out 
of it. 

Senator Harris. That is, even with this injected carbonic-acid gas 
you still have to have wine? 

Mr. Emerson. Well, I was speaking then oi the true champagne. 
With an artificial method you can use any kind of wine; it does not 
make any difference whether it contains salicylic acid or other things. 

Senator Harris. That is, you could make it sparkle for a time ? 

Mr. Emerson. You could make it sparkle for a time, whereas in the 
case of the natural wine if it contained any impurities it would not 
respond to the process. It would not sparkle. It would remain flat 
in the bottle. In making a true champagne you would have to have 
a wine to begin with. 

The Chairman. You would recommend, then, that whether for 
domestic or imported wine the true champagne should be marked as 
suchand that the other should show that it was carbonated? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes, most decidedly. 

The Chairman. And that, in your opinion, would protect the con- 
sumer of the real champagne and would inform the consumer of the 
other ? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. Are you acquainted with French brandies ? 

Mr. Emerson. To a limited extent. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture still wine also ? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. I believe you testified to that. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions to make as to the proper 
branding of still wines made in this country or any other country? 

Mr. Emerson. It occurs to me that it would be only fair to'appl}'" 
the same rule to still wine that we suggest to apply to champagne. 
There is, and has been for a long time, a very large proportion of the 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 507 

American still-wine production sold under foreign labels, with the clear 
intent to deceive the public. 

The Chairman. You think that that ought to be corrected? 

Mr. Emerson. I think it would be only fair to the consumer to cor- 
rect one as well as the other. 

The Chairman. And ho\v about the adulteration of wine — the blend- 
ing and mixing and liiaking artificial wines 'i You have seen those, have 
you not? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; but I think there is very little of that done in 
American wines; and I think the compelling of an American wine man 
to put an American label on his American wine would have a tendency 
to lessen that, because he would have to put his name on the label, 
whereas if he puts it up under a French label, if there is any thing- 
wrong, any fault found, it is put on the French wine, and he is not 
responsible for it. 

Senator Harris. Going back to champagne, is there a large amount 
of this artificial-process champagne on the market and being sold all 
the time ? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; a large amount. 

The Chairman. Of domestic and foreign manufacture both ? 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; I think both, although I have no experience with 
the carbonated imported wine, but I understand that that is also sold 
here in a limited way. A while ago, when the duty was less on cham- 
pagne, there was more of that cheap character of wine sold here, but 
under the present tarifl' we have not had that to compete with so 
much. 

The Chairman. Have you anything further to suggest for the bene- 
fit of the committee? 

Mr, Emerson. I think not. I think I have covered the ground. 

The Chairman. You feel that there ought to be a national law to 
compel people practically to show by their labels or to say by their 
labels what is in the bottle? 

Mr. Emerson. I think so. I think that would be to the ultimate 
great advantage of the American wine industry. 

The Chairman. And it would be also a benefit to the man who buys 
a thing, who ought to be permitted to get what he pays for? 

Mr. Emerson. 1 think it would be a benefit to the producer and 
the consumer both. The best of the American wines are now sold as 
foreign wines in our market. 

Senator Harris. We have certain States, however, having pure-food 
laws which require the accurate labeling of things of that sort. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Do you know anything as to the pure-food law of 
the State of Michigan ? 

Mr. Emerson. I am not posted about that. 

Senator Harris. Do j^ou know what sort of market those goods 
have that you speak of — American goods sold as foreign in this 
market ? 

Mr. Emerson. No; I do not. We put our own label upon every bot- 
tle of wine that we sell, so we do not get into conflict with that at all. 

Senator Harris. But do you know of the other kinds of wine that 
come in conflict with it ? I thought that perhaps you might have seen 
that in certain States the}^ were barred out by the State law. 



508 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Emeeson. I do not know; it would be very difficult to prove 
that wines shipped from another State into ours had been fraudulently 
labeled. 

Senator Harris. It would have to be determined by chemical analy- 
sis, I suppose? 

Mr. Emerson. No analysis would show. They would have to get 
at the derivation of the wine — at the kind of grape it was made from. 
An analysis might show that it was a pure wine. 

Senator Harris. But you say that a natural wine effervesces for a 
very much longer time than the other. 

Mr. Emerson. Yes; but I was speaking of the still wine. 

Senator Harris. But I am speaking of the competition with the 
carbonated champagne. 

Mr. Emerson. I did not know of any State that had a law which 
was put in force against carbonated champagne. 

Senator Harris. I do not know whether the Michigan law reaches 
it or not, but that law requires the formula in the case of almost 
everything to be given if it departs from the true thing. 

Mr. Emerson. Well, 1 do not think it is complied with or enforced 
in regard to carbonated wines. I had reference to American goods 
under foreign labels in giving my previous answer relating to still 
wines. A pure-food State law does not cover the point outside of its 
own State. 

Senator Harris. Certainly not. 

Mr. Emerson. And it does not restrict shipping into that State of 
almost any kind of goods. 

Senator Harris. But it prohibits their sale, which practically pro- 
hibits their shipping in. 

Mr. Emerson. But it is very much evaded, inasmuch as the original 
shipper is not responsible. A national law covering that point would 
cover everything and be efficacious. 

Senator Harris. Well, I do not know as to that. 

The Chairman. It would be uniform, at any rate, and cover all States 
alike. 

Senator Harris. The requirements would be uniform, but the ques- 
tion of enforcement is a matter of official action. 

The Chairman. It might be enforced in one neighborhood and not 
in another. 



TESTIMONY OF WALTER E. HILDRETH. 

Walter E. Hildreth, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. What is your residence? 

Mr. Hildreth. New York City. 

The Chairman. What is your business ? 

Mr. Hildreth. I am president of the Urbana Wine Company. 

The Chairman. What kind of wines do you make ? 

Mr. Hildreth. Champagnes and still wines; some brandies, but 
very little. 

The Chairman. You have heard the evidence of the last witness in 
regard to what he considers a champagne ? 

Mr. Hildreth. Yes. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 509 

The Chairman. Is that j^our definition of champagne as it is now 
understood in the trade? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. As I understand the word champagne, it is a term 
used for a certain wine, made in a certain way. It has become an 
accepted term for wine which is fermented in the bottle, which pro- 
duces carbonic-acid gas and has a sparkling effect when poured out. 

The Chairman. In manufacturing 3^our wine do you use anything 
but graj3es 'i 

Mr. HiLDRETH. No, sir; but of course in the finishing we add a fin- 
ishing sirup to the wine, but the sparkling quality of the wine is due 
entirely to the fermentation of the gTape juice in the bottles. 

The Chairman. Do you or not use any artificial carbonic-acid gas? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. No, sir; none whatever. The wine is, in the first 
place, the result of a process which the old French covered by the 
term "the marriage of the wine." It is a new and an old wine blended 
together. The wine made in the fall is blended with the old wine in 
winter and allowed to remain a certain length of time, after which 
it is bottled and corked. The wine is then left in the cellars for a 
period of two to three years or more, during which time it goes through 
what they call the second fermentation. During that second ferment- 
ation carbonic-acid gas is produced, the same as any wine will ferment. 
In fermenting it will produce carbonic-acid gas, but with a cork in the 
bottle the gas is all retained in the wine. In producing that gas it 
forms a sediment, which drops to the bottom or side of the bottle as 
the bottle is laid in racks in the cellar. When they get ready to finish 
the wine it is put in ""horses" or tables. The neck of the bottle is put 
into that thing and is kept nearly flat at first and lies there from ten 
da3^s to two weeks, after which time the bottles are handled with a 
certain quick knack, and each time it is picked up it is tilted a little 
more, bringing the sediment down by degrees to the cork. Sometimes 
the sediment is stuck to the side of the bottle and they have to do 
what they call "pounding" it until they get the sediment removed 
and get it down to the cork. When it is finally down to the cork it 
is ready to be what they call ' ' finished. ' That takes from two to four 
months. 

When ready to be finished it is taken up to the finishing roouL The 
wine is then, as they say, "disgorged,' 'and a finishing sirup is added to 
the wine, consisting of old wine and a small percentage of white cognac 
brandy and rock candy. In the American champagne we use simply 
these three ingredients. W^e depend entirely, for the flavor of wine, 
on the blending of the three grades that we use. In the French cham- 
pagne the wine itself has little or no flavor, and they add to the origi- 
nal liqueurs or cordials, which is the secret of the flavor of the French 
champagne. We depend entirely on the flavor of the grape which 
enters into its composition. That is really the only difference between 
•the French and the American true champagnes. 

After that when the wine is disgorged it is passed quickly to a dos- 
ing machine, where the pressure is equalized and the sirup allowed to 
flow in, and it is then corked and allowed to be put out for use. We 
keep it for from three to six months, allowing the sirup to blend with 
the wine. 

Senator Harris. Can champagne be made from the juice of any 
grape ? 



510 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Almost any grape — the black grape as well as the 
white grape. In fact, the best champagne grapes that we have are the 
black grapes. 

Senator Harris. It is in the process then, more than in the natural 
juice of the grape, that the champagne function or qualit}^ lies? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. It depends entirely on the process; but some grades 
will ferment and produce the gas better than other grades will. There 
are certain classes of grapes that produce a good champagne, while 
others will not do so. From what I know of the business I am satis- 
fied that the California grapes as a general rule do not produce as good 
a champagne as the Eastern grapes^ — the same as certain districts 
where they produce heavy wine they do not produce the same quality 
of champagne as grapes produced in other districts. Some grapes 
produce gas better than others. 

Senator Harris. Aside from the question of flavor, you think? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Of course the bouquet would differ ? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. It would differ with the different grapes used. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions to make to the commit- 
tee as to adulterations ? You do not adulterate any goods ? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You do not use anybody's labels but your own ? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. No; we make brands of wine for two or three dif- 
ferent people, but they are labeled for those people and labeled as 
American wines. They are special brands made by us for those par- 
ticular people, but they have their names on them. 

Senator Harris. They bear their names as manufacturers? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes; made for them as a special brand. 

The Chairman. If I had a run on a certain brand of wine called the 
ABC wine I could send to you year after year and have that brand 
made? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Well, not now, sir; we are still doing it for the old 
people that we have had for a long time, but we do not take any new 
customers for that particular sort of thing now, because we want to 
produce our own brand and label. We are working for ourselves and 
not for them. 

The Chairman. But when you do make it you brand it for what 
it is? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Oh, yes; in other words, we do not make a foreign 
label for anj^body. We do not imitate any foreign or any domestic 
wines for them. 

The Chairman. Do you think there ought to be some national legis- 
lation to compel all manufacturers, whether foreign or domestic, to 
mark their goods for what they are? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. I do. 

The Chairman. And when they are carbonated that fact ought to- 
be shown on the label? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes; the question of carbonated wines is a serious 
one for us in this country. We make wine of the same character as 
is made in Champagne, France. We do not say that it is made iu 
Champagne or in France, but we put on it our own label, and we claim 
that it is a true champagne, inasmuch as it is made by the same proc- 
ess as the French champagnes are made. Of course we do not want 
to come into competition with a wine which can be made in fifteen 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 511 

minutes and which has none of the properties of the true champagne. 
And it seems to me that tiiose quickly made champagnes ought to be 
labeled for what they really are. 

The Chairman. That would protect j^ou and the consumer as well^ 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes. We are perfectly willing- to put on our label 
the fact that our wines are made in the United States. In fact, we do 
put that on our wines ourselves, and we put on also the name of the 
place where the wine is made, and we would like to see everybody else 
do the same thing. It is a protection to the public as well as to our- 
selves. 

Senator Harris. Is there a large amount of this artificial-process 
champagne on the markets 

Mr. HiLDRETH. How much I could not say, but we run across it all 
the time and in every direction. 

Senator Harris. There is a good deal of it? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes. 

Senator Harris. You have no idea as to the percentage at all, or 
could you give us an approximation as to the percentage of that kind 
of wine that is sold as champagne ? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. No, I could not. We run across a good deal of it 
and there is a good deal of prejudice against American champagnes 
due to that class of wines. There is no question about that. 

Senator Harris. That is aside from the preference for wines made 
in France? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes, entirely aside from that. We very often run 
across illustrations of this prejudice in this way: We speak to people 
in regard to the American wines and they say: "Oh, I have tasted 
such and such a wine; it is a miserable sort of stuff; I would not touch 
it again." We attempt to tell those people that our wines are differ- 
ent from the wines that they say they have been drinking and against 
which they have formed this opinion. But they say: "Your wines 
are American champagne ? " We say: "Yes." Then they say: "Well, 
this was American champagne, and I do not want to have an3^thing to 
do with it." They have got from their grocer something in the way 
of an article called American champagne for which they have paid, 

Eerhaps, a quarter of a dollar per half pint. They have taken that 
ome and tried it and have been disgusted with it, and when anyone 
wants them to taste American champagne, they say: "Oh, well, we 
have tasted that sort of thing, and we don't want to have anything 
more to do with it." They will not be talked out of that prejudice 
derived in that way. 

The Chairman. Could you produce and sell at retail, at that price, 
a bottle of that wine if it was a genuine article? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. We could not, of course; it would be impossible. 

Besides being a wine producer, I am the proprietor of the West 
End Hotel, at Long Branch, and I want to give an illustration of 
this prejudice that we meet against American wines. A certain judge 
was living at my hotel for a number of j^ears at Long Branch, and 
claimed to be quite a connoisseur in the matter of wines. I had 
been trying for a number of years to get him to test our Urbana 
wine. He said to me: "I have tested and tasted American wines, and 
I do not want to have anything more to do with them." One day, 
about three years ago, Mr. Peters, of the firm of Smith & Peters, who 
.are the agents of the Clicquot champagne, was down there and invited 



512 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

a number of frioncls to take some of his champagne. He Avas about 
to introduce his new Brut wine and invited a number of his friends, 
as I sa3% and I had the honor of being among- those whom he invited 
to take a bottle of this new wine. After having tasted it, the ques- 
tion of the dryness of the wine came up, I suggested that we should 
try a bottle of our Brut — the "Gold Seal" Brut. Just as the bottle 
was opened this judge came into the barroom. Our label for this Brut 
is a yellow label, the color being the same as the Clicquot yellow label. 
At the same time our label is entirely different. It is labeled, very 
distinctly, "Gold Seal Brut," with the Urbana Wine Company's name 
on the label. But the color is about the same color as that of the 
Clicquot yellow label. The judge came up to the bar and said: "Mr. 
Peters, am I in this?" And Mr. Peters said: "Certainly." The 
judge noticed the peculiar color of the label, and he was verj^ fond of 
the Clicquot wine, especially the Yellow Label, as he had frequently 
drank it. He put the glass to his nose and smelt it. He tasted it, 
and he said to Mr. Peters: "They may talk as they please about those 
new wines, but," said he, "your old Yellow Label is the best wine tnat 
comes into this country." He says: "That is the most delicious glass 
of wine that I have ever tasted." I said to him: "Judge, did you 
look at that label before you tasted the wine? " He said: "No, but I 
know the label very well." He then looked at the label, and was 
dumbfounded to find that it was our wine and an American wine. 
That is a case in point that I wished to give to the committee to illus- 
trate the depth and strength of this prejudice and how unnecessary 
it is. I had tried to get that gentleman for three or four years to test 
our wines, but he would not think of it. 

The Chairman. I had the same impression that he had, namely, that 
American wines generally were carbonated. 

Mr. HiLDRETH. He certainly had an impression that these wines 
made in this country were all carbonated wines. 

Senator Harris. Did he have a good opinion of that wine after read- 
ing the label? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. He drank it afterwards, I know. 

Senator Harris. Of course, in a delicate thing like the flavor of 
wine, the power of the imagination can not l)e overlooked. 

Mr. HiLDRETH. There is no question al^out that, but the power of 
the imagination is stretched too far when a man tries to make some of 
his carbonated wine appear to be the genuine article. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestion to make to the committee 
regarding the subject-matter which they are investigating? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. 1 would suggest, if I were asked about it, that it 
would be an excellent idea to label wines for what they are. We are 
perfectly willing to put on our bottles the words "Fermented in the 
bottle," I have heard some carbonated wine people say that their 
carbonic acid gas that they put into the wine is perfectly pure, and I 
have even heard some of them go so far as to say that their wines 
are better, purer, than the natural fermented wine. Now that may 
be a matter of opinion. If anybody wants that kind of wine, let 
them have it, but it ought to be correctly labeled. I think people 
ought to get what they pay for. We would be perfectly willing to put 
the correct label on our bottles if they would put the correct label on 
theirs; and if they would put on "Made in the United States." 

Senator Harris, Carbonated wines are of both domestic production 
and foreign importation ? 



ADULTERATION^ OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 513 

Mr. HiLDRETH. So I understand; but there are A^ery few foreign 
importations now. 

Senator Harris. They can not afford to pay the duty? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. No. We have in the State of New York a law gov- 
erning the purity of wines and things of that kind; but the trouble with 
local laws is that they show well on the statute book, but there are no 
means of enforcing them. Sometimes they are enforced in one State 
and not enforced in another State. If we could get some general law 
on the statute books of the United States obliging people who manu- 
facture carbonated wines, or who bring wines into this country, or who 
sell American wines under foreign labels to sell their products for 
what thej^ actually are, 1 believe that individual State legislation would 
very soon follow a national law, and that the States would enact local 
State laws to correspond. 

The Chairman. To harmonize with the national law? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Yes; to harmonize with the national law and to 
carry it through. 

The Chairman. Have you in New York any law which prohibits 
the sale of carbonated wines for genuine champagne 'i 

Mr. HiLDRETH. I do not think that question was ever brought up 
before. I am not positive, but I do not think so. 

Senator Harris. New York has a pure-food law? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. I believe so. 

Senator Harris. Which is enforced through the State board of 
health or some board of that kind? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. Very poorly. 

Senator Harris. But in theory ? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. I so Understand, in theor}^; but there is but very 
little money, I understand, appropriated for that purpose. 

Senator Harris. You have never appealed to the State board of 
health, or to whoever has charge of the enforcement of this law, have 
you ? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. We have not as yet. 

The Chairman. As I understand, there is no law in New York pro- 
hibiting the carbonating of anything and calling it champagne. I have 
a copy of the law. 

Mr. HiLDRETH. I believe that you are right. 

The Chairman. That is my recollection. 

Senator Harris. If they have a law which prohibits the sale of a 
thing for that which it is not, would not that cover it? 

The Chairman. Possibl}' it might. (To the witness.) But of course 
3'^our customers are not all in New York? 

Mr. HiLDRETH. We have customers all over the country. 

TESTIMONY OF DE WITT BAUDER. 

De Witt Bauder, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Where is your residence? 

Mr. Bauder. At Hammondsport, N. Y. 

The Chairman. Are you connected with the same company with 
which the last witness is connected? 

Mr. Bauder. No, sir; I am manager of the Pleasant Valley Wine 
Company. 

The Chairman. What is the business of that company ? 
F p 33 



514 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Mr. Bauder. To manufacture champagne and still wines. 

The Chairman. In any of your manufacturing processes do you use 
anything but gi'apes ? 

Mr. Bauder. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservatives — salicylic acid, or 
anything of that kind? 

Mr. Bauder. Not at all; nor any coloring matter. 

The Chairman. Do you agree with the last witness as to what real 
champagne is ? 

Mr. Bauder. I do. 

The Chairman. It is a wine carbonated by its own gas ? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes. 

The Chairman. And developed in process of time ? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes. 

The Chairman. An artificial champagne is one carbonated by arti- 
ficial means? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes. 

The Chairman. The gas being manufactured by some process 
outside. 

Mr. Bauder. Yes 

The Chairman. Do you mark your goods for what they are ? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Do you put on them your name and the place at 
which you manufacture them ? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. What do you say, as a manager of a wine company, 
as to the question before this committee whether there should be a 
national law to compel the branding or marking of wines for what 
they are? 

Mr. Bauder. I am heartily in favor of a law of that kind. 

The Chairman. Do you feel that the carbonating of new wines is a 
detriment to the legitimate manufacture of the true champagne? 

Mr. Bauder. I do, in the way spoken of, that many people, as you 
yourself explained a little while ago, supposed that all champagnes 
were made by the artificial process — all that were made in America or 
in the United States. A man that bu3^s that wine gets a veiy bad 
impression of American wine, and it takes a great deal of persuasion to 
persuade him out of that impression. 

The Chairman. Do people get that impression from the taste or the 
effect of it ? 

Mr. Bauder. Both. 

The Chairman. Artificial carbonating, you think, has a different 
effect from the natural carbonating. 

Mr. Bauder. Well, I will say that I went into a place in New York 
some years ago with a friend of mine. The party in the place knew 
nothing about who I was, and he showed us through his place, and 
finally offered us a glass of wine, what he called champagne. I took 
a small glass of it, and I had not got a block off' before I left it. My 
friend soon left his also. I had been in the business for some twenty- 
two or twenty -three years at that time, and I had had nothing of that 
kind before. 

Senator Harris. Have you any other evidence at all as to the hurt- 
fulness of this wine? 

Mr. Bauder. No; only this: We have taken some little pains to 



ADULTERATIOTSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 515 

keep a tab on this wine, and in the case of a few bottles that we bought 
for experiment we found at the end of some two or three months that 
it produced a sediment which a genuine champagne will not do, I 
mean that there must be some chemical action in that wine other than 
the* natural action, because it would not deposit a sediment otherwise. 

The Chairman. In champagne you wait for months and years until 
that sediment is deposited and then take it out? 

Mr. BaudExI. Yes. 

The Chairman. Before final corking? 

Mr. Bauder. Certainly. 

The Chairman. But, of course, if they carbonate new wine and 
make champagne in a few days, that would leave the ingredient neces- 
sary to make that sediment, would it not? 

Mr. Bauder. A genuine champagne made by fermenting in the 
bottle must of necessity be a perfectly pure wine. We have occasion- 
ally some little accident, and we find that something has gotten into the 
wine in the process of champagnizing it or of fermenting it in the 
bottle. The thing will magnify like a magnifying glass, and will come 
out and be very strong. You can see why, because the bottle is her- 
metically sealed, and, although fermentation is going on in the bottle, 
nothing can escape. We are obliged many times to dock a great many 
thousand bottles, because it has a flavor that is objectionable. We 
can not always explain why, but that is the fact. 

The Chairman. I understood you to say that you would recommend, 
or would be glad to have this committee recommend, to Congress a law 
that would compel bottlers of goods to mark their goods for what 
they are. 

Mr. Bauder. Yes; just for what they are. 

The Chairman. And if they are carbonated that they should say so 
on the bottle ? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes; I would be perfectly willing to put on our bot- 
tles the words, "Fermented in the bottle." 

The Chairman. All true champagne is so fermented, is it not? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes. 

The Chairman. It would be an advertisement to a person enlight- 
ened upon the subject, would it not? 

Mr. Bauder. Certainly. If any man is satisfied with the carbon- 
ized wine and buys it for what it is, namel}^ a carbonized wine, I have 
no objection. They certainly have a right to manufacture it, but they 
have no right to manufacture and sell it for something that deceives 
the people. 

The Chairman. It injures the trade of a man who is making straight 
goods ? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes. I picked up a paper the other day and meant 
to bring it before this committee, but it slipped my mind, in which 
there was a veiy fine advertisement from difi^erent carbonators 
throughout the country, one of them stating that they made carbon- 
ized wines. They all state that they are American champagne, and 
that they are equal to the best imported champagne. Now, a man not 
knowing anything about champagne might be easily taken in by a sign 
or advertisement like that, and when he took his wine home he would 
be much disappointed in it. He certainly would be disappointed if he 
had a very fine taste. We have in our State a law — the State of New 
York — which may be called the pure-wine law. I drew the law myself 



516 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and had it presented by our member of the legislature, and it was 
passed, and with the exception of two or three instances it has been a 
dead letter. It resulted in closing up a house or two in New York 
that were manufacturing bogus still wine; but in this law it expressly 
states that no wine shall receive artificial treatment — among other 
things, carbonic acid gas — and it was a question for a time whether we 
should try to interfere and ourselves enforce the law, but we finally 
concluded that it would simply drive the fellows over into New Jersey 
and that that would end it. 

Senator Harris. This law prohibits the manufacture, does it not, 
and also prohibits the sale ? 

Mr. Bauder. No; it does not prohibit the sale, but it imposes a very 
heavy fine and confiscation. 

Senator Harris. Well, that is practically a prohibition of the sale. 

Mr. Bauder. Well, yes. 

Senator Harris. So that you could protect yourselves against "Jer- 
sey lightning" as well as others? 

Mr. Bauder. I understand; but when it comes to the point how are 
you going to tell ? Suppose it had a new name, you would have no 
evidence whatever to. show how it was made. 

Senator Harris. You would have to proceed exactly as you would 
in the enforcement of any Federal law — by analysis or tests. 

Mr. Bauder. Analysis would not show it. 

Senator Harris. Well, tests of some sort. 

Mr. Bauder. We tried for several j^ears during the process of dis- 
cussion of a bill that was up for several years as to the manufacturing 
of beer to have the same penalty; or, in other words, to have the same 
law applied to the pure-wine bill for its enforcement. That is, the 
ofiicers that were selected by the legislature or created by the legis- 
lature to enforce the beer law should also enforce the pure-wine law, 
but we never have succeeded in getting either. 

Senator Harris. You say that the difficulty in the enforcement of 
the State law is owing to the difliculty of detection practically? How 
would that be improved by the enactment of another law? 

Mr. Bauder. Well, I do not know. I do not wish to say anything 
about it in that aspect of the case. It is the simple fact that there is 
no provision of the law for its enforcement excepting by somebody 
making a complaint. That throws the trouble upon an individual, 
which he hates to incur. 

Senator Harris. Can not your State law be so amended as to invest 
somebody with the authority to make seizures and tests? 

Mr. Bauder. I say we have been trying for some time to get some 
law passed making it the absolute duty of some oflicer to enforce that 
law, but we have not succeeded. 

Senator Harris. 1 do not think that the piling up of additional laws 
is any benefit to anybody. 

Mr. Bauder. I understand that, but a general law passed by the 
Federal Government might be and, I think, would be of great advant- 
age, especially if it placed the matter in the hands of the revenue serv- 
ice. Then we would have no trouble in enforcing the law, because 
an officer would be selected by the operation of the law to enforce it, 
and he would enforce it upon some one simply making complaint to 
him. He would take it upon himself to investigate. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 517 

Senator Harris. That could be done now under the State law, could 
it not ? 

Mr. Bauder. I do not think so. 

Senator Harris. States have boards of health and bodies of that char- 
acter, and they could make a proper examination and institute the 
prosecution. 

Mr. Bauder. Well, this law was all right, so far as penalties went, 
but it lacked ihe element of its being somebody's duty to enforce it. 

Senator Harris. A prosecuting officer has to be found in the enforce- 
ment of nearly all laws. That is the difficult3^ 

Mr. Bauder. That is true. It is usually the aggrieved party that 
sets the machinery in motion. If a man has his watch stolen, nobody 
will move in the matter with so much energy as himself. 

The Chairman. I will say to Senator Harris that all the witnesses 
who testified regarding beer have said that they oppose the enactment 
of State laws because of the lack of uniformit}^, but thej were willing 
to have a standard for beer (because the standard could be uniform) 
if enacted by the United States Government. They said that if laws 
were passed by New York State it might make restrictions on the man- 
ufacture of beer and upon beer producers, and that they could not pro- 
tect themselves against, perhaps. New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

Senator Harris. But it seems to me we must remember that we have 
a dual form of government, and that while it presents some very seri- 
ous difficulties sometimes in "cutting across lots," as it were, in order 
to arrive at results, yet it has to be regarded. 

Mr. Bauder. Only a very small part of ovir business is done in the 
State of New York. But men who felt aggrieved might take hold and 
show up those people in New York. They might manufacture wine in 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but not sell any of it in New York State. 

Senator Harris. This is a police matter, practically, and the States 
are invested with full police power. The General Government might 
very generally take hold of many of these police regulations in the State 
of New York and enforce them much better than your State govern- 
ment would, but people would hesitate very much before giving their 
adhesion to such a system of interference. 

Mr. Bauder. Well, Senator, I must beg leave to differ with you in 
relation to the matter of laws relating to pure food and drink. In my 
judgment you will never get a standard of purity and honesty by State 
legislation. The law must be uniform and apply alike to all States and 
be made by the National Government. 

Senator Harris. Have you had any experience in Michigan — do you 
ship goods to Michigan? 

Mr. Bauder. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Suppose these fraudulent goods to be shipped to 
that State; do you know anything of the treatment that they get there ? 

Mr. Bauder. I can not tell you as to that. I know that we have 
no trouble. I know that Ohio has a very stringent law. When that 
law was first enacted in Ohio and became operative we were obliged 
to stamp our champagne, and as one of the other gentlemen stated 
here this morning, I desire to corroborate him in saying that cham- 
pagne is the purest of all the wines that are made. It is the king of 
wines; but we were obliged, for the sake of the little rock candy in the 
dosage, to put on the bottles a new word. 



518 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. The word ''compounded?" 

Mr. Bauder. The word "compounded." 

Senator Harris. How did that operate on the artificially made or 
carbonated wine? 

Mr. Bauder. I could not tell you; but to show you that these things 
are not eii'ective I will say that in a little while this thing- was aban- 
doned, and we have heard nothing from it since. I think there was 
just one or two shipments. We took a rubber stamp and put on the 
labels the word "compounded," and I had almost made up my mind to 
refuse all orders from Ohio rather than put that word upon our label. 

Senator Harris. In your experience, did you find that that law or 
rule was applied to imported champagnes also ? 

Mr. Bauder. I was so told. 

Senator Harris. They all had to do as you did? 

Mr. Bauder. I have no personal knowledge, but I was so told. 

Senator Harris. Do you have anj^ knowledge as to those wines that 
are artificially compounded — how they were treated under the law? 

Mr. Bauder. I had no knowledge as to that. I did not hear regard- 
ing that matter. 

TESTIMONY OF DOUGLAS G. COOK. 

Douglas G. Cook, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. What is your residence ? 

Mr. Cook. St. Louis, Mo. 

The Chairman. And your business ? 

Mr. Cook. I am president of the American Wine Company. 

The Chairman. What kind of wine do you manufacture ? 

Mr. Cook. Champagnes. 

The Chairman. Where are your vineyards ? 

Mr. Cook. We buy our grapes in the Lake Erie district, near 
Sandusky. 

The Chairman. What wines do you manufacture ? 

Mr. Cook. Just one brand; sparkling wine. 

The Chairman. Known by the name of "Cook's Imperial?" 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

The Chairman. Where do you say you buy your grapes? 

Mr, Cook. In the islands of Lake Erie — Put-in-Bay, and Kellys 
Island. We press our juice in Sandusky and ship in the spring of the 
3^ear to St. Louis. We have our first fermentation in Sandusky. 

The Chairman. You have heard the definition of true champagne 
as accepted now in the trade, or by men in that business. Do you agree 
with the gentlemen here who have testified on that subject? Is that 
your idea of champagne? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you use any preservatives in your goods ? 

Mr. Cook. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You manufacture the same champagnes as the other 
gentlemen here, do you. using the same grapes? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. Our superintendent has just returned from Europe, 
where he was for some months, and he sa3^s that he saw no improve- 
ment on our methods. He was through all the wine cellars in Europe. 

Senator Harris. I intended to ask some of the other gentlemen a 
question that I will now ask of you. How is the difference produced 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 519 

between what is called sweet wine — sweet champagne — and dry cham- 
pagne ? 

Mr. Cook. By adding less sirup to the dry champagne. The dry 
wine has less sirup than the other. 

Senator Harris. So that the quality of sweetness is produced by 
the addition of more sirup? 

Mr. Cook. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. And the dry champagne has less added matter? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

Senator Harris. But you do not regard that as affecting the ques- 
tion of the healthfulness of the product? 

Mr, Cook. Not at all. It is only a question of the palate. 

Senator Harris. You do not think there is any more headache in 
one than in the other? 

Mr. Cook. I do not. I prefer the sweet wine of the two. 

Senator Harris. You manufacture both kinds, however? 

Mr. Cook. No, sir; we have only one brand. 

The Chairman. Did you ever visit a factory where ftiey carbonate 
wine artificially ? 

Mr. Cook. No; I never have done so, but I have been in soda fac- 
tories and places of that sort. 

The Chairman. You know how it is done in a general way? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you know how that gas is manufactured ? 

Mr. Cook. Only from what I understand — from marble dust and 
sulphuric acid. I understand that it is on the same principle as if you 
used large quantities of soda water or charged mineral water. It is 
very bad for the health. It is said that soda water or charged mineral 
water is not at all good in large quantities; that it is bad for the 
kidneys. 

The Chairman. How much cheaper could you manufacture your 
goods, do you think, if you were allowed to carbonate your wine 
artificially ? 

Mr. Cook. About $10 cheaper per case. 

The Chairman. That would save 40 or 50 per cent, would it not? 

Mr. Cook. Yes; more than that; nearly 75 per cent of the cost. 

The Chairman. Then the great expense of all in manufacturing cham- 
pagne IS aging and developing its own carbonic-acid gas? 

Mr. Cook. Not only that, but the manipulation of the wine in the 
bottles. 

The Chairman. But you do not have that expense if you carbonate 
it artificially ? 

Mr. Cook. Oh, no. 

The Chairman. All that manipulation is done away with when it is 
carbonated ? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

The Chairman. And all that idle capital is saved ? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

Senator Harris. Is there a pure-food law in Missouri? 

Mr. Cook. I think not; in fact, I know there is not. 

The Chairman. You are the Mr. Cook from whom "'Cook's Impe- 
rial" is named? 

Mr. Cook. Yes. 

The Chairman. You have been in the business a good many years? 

Mr. Cook. I succeeded my father. 



520 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. As a matter of fact have you, so far as you have 
learned by experience or through your counsel, any relief in Missouri 
from the competition of men who make an artificial champagne? 

Mr. Cook. No, sir. 

The Chairman. You are willing to market your goods and mark 
them for just what they contain? 

Mr. Cook. Yes; we do mark them now in that way. 

The Chairman. Do you favor a law which would compel your com- 
petitors, who make an artificial wine, to mark theirs in the same way; 
that is, to mark them for what they contain ? 

Mr. Cook. Yes; I think it will be a very beneficial thing for the 
public and also beneficial to the general manufacturers of sparkling 
wines. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture any still wine? 

Mr. Cook. No, sir. 

The Chairman. The principal adulteration, then, in champagnes is 
by this artificial treatment — whether it is detrimental to health or not, 
you do not pretend to speak as a chemist or as a physician ? 

Mr. Cook. No; I could not speak as to that except from what I have 
heard, that carbonated soda water or bottled soda water is not good for 
the health. I can not personally say anything on the subject. 

The Chairman. You have no personal knowledge on that subject? 

Mr. Cook. No, sir. 

The Chairman. But that it does interfere with the sale of the legiti- 
mate champagne you are certain. 

Mr. Cook. To the extent that it produces a prejudice against Ameri- 
can champagne. That is the main thing. It does not give the genuine 
article the proper show it should have before our people. 

The Chairman. I suppose this carbonate is sold cheaper, is it not? 

Mr. Cook. Necessarily it must be cheaper. There is very little 
expense connected with it except the original expense of bu3dng the 
carbonating machine. 

Senator Harris. Is there a large quantity of it sold in St. Louis, for 
example ? 

Mr. Cook. Not now. There was at one time a good deal of it — 
there was one party there who sold a large quantity of carbonate wine. 

Senator Harris. But it did not last. 

Mr. Cook. It lasted only about two or three years. 

Senator Harris. But I mean that the people themselves are unable 
to keep on selling? 

Mr, Cook. No. Well, it was not even the best carbonate wine. In 
a carbonate wine you can take any old wine, no matter what the qual- 
ity of it is, and charge it up and sell. Naturally, in buying wine to 
carbonate, they bought the cheapest that they could get. They had 
to sell it cheap, and if they could get their fundamental wine cheaper, 
why, the more money they could make. 

Senator Harris. Not being experienced, people in general would 
not be able to distinguish the difference in the bottles. I suppose the 
bottles are put up in the same way and look like the bottles in which 
there is pure champagne? 

Mr. Cook. Yes; it has all the appearance of the other wine. They 
cap it and label it in the same way. 

The Chairman. Have you any suggestions to make to the commit- 
tee in addition to what you have stated? 

Mr. Cook. No; I think not. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 521 



TESTIMONY OF CHARLES G. WHEELER. 

Charles G. Wheeler, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Where do you live? 

Mr, Wheeler. In Pulteney, Steuben County, N. Y. 

The Chairman. What is your business 'i 

Mr. Wheelj:r. I am a producer of champagne. 

The Chairman. Do you make anything besides champagne? 

Mr. Wheeler. No, sir. 

The Chairman. What brands of champagne do you make? 

Mr. Wheeler. "AVhiteTop." 

The Chairman. Do you use anything in your wine to preserve it? 

Mr. Wheeler. No; we do not. 

The Chairman. Simply the grape? 

Mr. Wheeler. Nothing but blended grapes — different grapes. 

The Chairman. Just as has been testified here by other gentlemen 
in your business? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Do you carbonate these in the usual way bj^ aging 
your wine? 

Mr. Wheeler. By fermentation in the bottle. 

The Chairman. Have you ever seen it done in any other way ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes. 

The Chairman. Tell the committee how it is done. 

Mr. Wheeler. I saw some of it done about three weeks ago. They 
use an ordinary still wine. They can use any kind of wine, for that 
matter — that is, a light-colored wine — whether a true still wine or a 
sugared wine;, that is put into a tank or cylinder; they have attached 
to that a cylinder of carbonic-acid gas, and they turn that gas on to this 
wine. The wine at first, of course, is sweetened to the taste or sweet- 
ness that they want. They turn this gas on and run it up to a pres- 
sure of about TO or 80 pounds per square inch, and then they revolve 
it and work this gas all through the wine. Then it is run through a 
machine to which the bottles are attached, and filled. In this machine 
that probably occupies a minute or two. Some machines run faster 
than others. After it is filled they pass it through a corker, and it is 
corked in the regular way like a true wine and a label is put on. 

The Chairman. While it is being corked a little gas escapes ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes; but it is put on with a heavy pressure, so that 
they can afford to lose a little. But every twenty minutes or so a man 
revolves this machine and keeps the gas going through the wine. It 
is finished in the same way as our wine. 

The Chairman. Have you ever seen a bottle marked in a way that 
would indicate that it was carbonated artificially ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Never. 

The Chairman. Does it compete with your wine? 

Mr. Wheeler. Well, we don't claim to be competitors of those peo- 
ple; but still in one sense we are competitors. If anybody tells me 
that he can buy a certain wine cheaper than our wine, why, I say to 
him that we are not competitors of those people; we are not carbonators. 
Still, there is no doubt that they are in one sense our worst competitors. 

The Chairman Is it not your opinion and observation and experi- 
ence that the consumers largely suppose that this is the same sort of 
champagne as any other champagne is? 



522 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Wheelhr. Certainly. It is put on the market in that way, and 
it is labeled as champagne, and oftentimes the consumer buys it for a 
true champagne and pays the highest price; that is, the price of the 
true champagne. It is sold to the jobber, and the jobber and the grocer 
may understand that it is not a true champagne, because, as a rule, 
they can buy any quantity of it for five or six or seven dollars a case, 
whereas the true wine would be twelve or thirteen or fifteen dollars a 
case. Where they know it is carbonated, they sell it for less — for one- 
third, practically — but they do not tell the customer, and the consumer 
buys it for a true champagne. 

Senator Harris. The fraud is practically done by the seller? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes. He will sell it for eleven or twelve or thirteen 
dollars a case until the consumer gets on to it, and then the seller or 
retailer will sell the same wine for six or seven or even five dollars a 
case. 

Senator Harris. The retailer is the beneficiary in that case ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes; of course he is. He has a chance to sell it to 
the consumer for a true champagne. Of course if it were labeled for 
what it really is the consumer would not buy it, or at least very few 
persons would. To be sure, if he wanted it for what it is, that is his 
business, but there is not 1 per cent of the people who do know. 

The Chairman. You are not asking us to prohibit artificial carbon- 
ating? 

Mr. Wheeler. No. 

The Chairman. But you people would like to be protected b_y hav- 
ing the labels state the facts ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes; we would like to have a label on those goods 
according to what the goods are. It ought to be called carbonated 
wine, not carbonated champagne, because it is not a champagne. Then, 
if people want to bu}" it let them buy it. The consumer is the man 
who sufl'ers if there is anything wrong. 

The Chairman. What percentage could you save on the cost of man- 
ufacture, in your opinion, if you were to carbonate artificially? 

Mr. Wheeler. I think it would be about the same as Mr. Cook 
said. I think he got that about right. A case does not cost more than 
the expense of carbonating — more than a case of still wine — like a case 
of sweet catawba, which could be sold very cheap. Mr. Anderson 
could tell more about that; he is in the still-wine business. Perhaps it 
would be three or four dollars, or about that. 

The Chairman. You would save, perhaps, 75 per cent. 

Mr. Wheeler. Easily. 

The Chairman. If I can carbonate a wine artificiall}^ and make the 
consumer feel or believe that it is a genuine champagne and carbon- 
ated by age, I have that advantage? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes; of course they can carbonate any wine, 
whether old or new. 

Senator Harris. Can you detect it by the taste ? 

Mr. Wheeler. A connoisseur can. 

Senator Harris. Well, I am not speaking of a connoisseur, but 
people in general. 

Mr. Wheeler. The larger percentage of people who drink wines 
are not connoisseurs. 

Senator Harris. Everybody assumes to be, but very few people 
really are so by experience. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 523 

Mr. Wheeler. That is true. There is another point that ought to 
be borne in mind. A retail wine man gets a party in and they are 
drinking- niayl^e an imported wine or a good American wine like Gold 
Seal, or Great Western, or Cooks, or whatever it may be. They start 
in on one of them and after a while the dealer will ring in a carbonated 
wine upon them at the same price. That wine costs the dealer very 
little and he gets the price of a tirst-class wine, either imported or 
straight domestic. 

The Chairman. That is a fraud on the customers and all the w^ay 
through ? 

Mr. Wheeler. It is a fraud from start to finish. 

The Chairman. If you think of anything further that you would 
like to suggest we should be glad to hear you. 

Mr. Wheeler. I think the labels that are used b}^ all true American 
champagne men that are making a straight article are all right. They 
have the name of the brand on them and the place where the wine is 
produced, the post-office address, and everything of that kind, and the 
goods are advertised for champagne and are champagne. 

The Chairman. You think the brand or label should contain the 
name of the maker ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes. 

The Chairman. And should state what it is ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes. 

Senator Harris. You have examined the brands of these artificial 
carbonate wines; do those give generally the location of the manu- 
facturer 'i 

Mr. Wheeler. Hardly ever. Take the case of some men that I 
know of. They go to a jobber and tell him what they have. The 
jobber can understand that these men are in the carbonating business. 
They ask him what brand he would like to have. He will lay before 
him thirty or forty dili'erent lal)els — labels for imported brands- — those 
labels can l)e got from a great many people. He will look them over 
and say that he will get him up a label — something that appears to be 
foreign — an Italian label or a French label. 

Senator Harris. Something that does not give any clew to the 
manufacturer"? 

Mr. Wheeler. Nothing at all in the way of a clew. Perhaps it 
will have the word '"'" France" on it, or the word " Rheims," or some 
name of that kind. 

Senator Harris. Do they put up any brands which thej^ sell as their 
own make? 

Mr. Wheeler. The}^ put up brands of their own, but the}- do not 
have their own name on them. 

Senator Harris. That is what I ask about; do they put up any 
brand with the maker's name on ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Well, I think there are two that do. I know of 
two, on reflection, that I am positive of. 

Senator Harris. Two concerns that label their goods in their own 
name ? 

Mr. WheelExI Yes. 

Senator Harris. And give their location ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes; but they are not producers of straight cham- 
pagne at all. This carbonated wine is made in every city in the 
United States to-day. It is made near our place. 



524 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Senator Harris. In your experience in the trade, can you arrive at 
any general estimate as to the percentage of the whole quantity con- 
sumed, which those carbonated wines would constitute? 

Mr. Wheeler. There is a great deal more carbonated wine pro- 
duced in this country than there is of true wine; and it is growing. 

Senator Harris. That is what I want to get at, whether this is a 
large item in the consumption of champagne? 

Mr. Wheeler. Yes; it is growing every day. If one goes out of 
business, another one springs up. One has sprung up in our commu- 
nity within a short time. 

Senator Harris. It is a matter of magnitude, then? 

Mr. Wheeler. Oh, yes; certainly. 

The Chairman. Some imported champagne is treated in the same 
way ? 

Mr. Wheeler. Well, I understand so, but I can not say personally 
as to that. The people that carbonate wine have a great advantage in 
many ways. They use it as a capital. As you have been told here, 
true champagne takes years to make. Your money is invested any- 
where from three to five years; whereas they can step out and buy 
their stock for carbonating to-day, and to morrow they carbonate it, 
and then it is shipped the next day and sold on thirty, sixty, or ninety 
days' time. On an average they turn their money over and realize 
every three months, whereas other people have to tie up their money 
for a long time. 

The Chairman. If they have any credit at all they do not require 
any cash capital hardly ? 

Mr. Wheeler. That is so. I know of one case where a party who 
was producing a straight wine was asked if he was making carbonated 
wine. He said that he was, but he was going out of it — that he was 
not doing much of it. He was asked why he did it at all, and if it was 
not a bad thing to do — while making a straight wine to still put on the 
market a carbonated wine. He explained why he did it — because the 
other, he said, tied up their money so long. They used the carbon- 
ated, wine as a sort of capital, and they could turn themselves over 
quickly. It helped them along until they could get into the cham- 
pagne business, and then he was going to stop it altogether. 

Mr. HiLDRETH. The onl}^ thing that we are looking for is simply 
to place this question of American champagnes on a square footing. 
We are perfectly willing to put our labels on our wines, saying, ""Fer- 
mented in the bottle," and if the others are willing to put on their 
bottles the word "Carbonated," we shall be satisfied. 

The Chairman. I do not see why you should wish that, because if it 
be champagne it must be fermented in the bottle. 

Mr. HiLDRETH. That is the accepted term in the trade, but the car- 
bonated wine is not the same thing. It is a new process of forming 
wine — it is an entirely different thing. We have got to come into 
competition with that thing; whether it is healthful or not is a ques- 
tion that people maj^ differ about, but it is certainly imposing on the 
public. AH that we want to do is to be treated fairly and to treat the 
public fairly. 

As to the question of individual State laws, as I said in my evidence, 
I think that a general national law would have more weight with the 
individual legislatures of the States and would tend to make those leg- 
islatures enact laws corresponding with the national law. If there is 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 525 

a national law governing interstate commerce tbe individual States 
will almost certainly copy those laws to a greater or less extent, and I 
think that is where the public and the manufacturer will gain. 

Mr. Wheeler. I say that as a rule the people in the carbonating 
business are not wine producers at all. They have no vineyards nor 
wine cellars. They buy everything. They are what may be called 
"guerillas." 

The ChairM/iN. They have no regular location ? 

Mr. Wheeler. No regular location. Many of them are liquor deal- 
ers and in other business, like whiskies, etc. 

The subcommittee adjourned to meet on the call of the chairman. 



Committee on Manufactures, 

United States Senate, 
Washington^ D. C. , December ^i, 1899. 
The subcommittee met at 1 p. m. 
Present, Senator Mason, chairman. 



TESTIMONY OF PROF. WILLIAM FREAR— Resumed. 

Prof. William Frear recalled and further examined. 

The Chairman. The committee would like to know something in 
regard to the organization known as the National Pure Food and Drug 
Congress. I believe that you have been active in this organization 
and can tell us its purpose. 

Professor Frear. The history of the organization of the National 
Pure Food and Drug Congress is briefly as follows: Efforts for the 
enactment by Congress of measures for the repression of food adulter- 
ation have been made at various times during the past decade. Some 
of these measures which were special in their character — that is, which 
applied to particular food products or substitutes therefor — reached 
enactment. There was, however, a great lack of unity in the meth- 
ods by which the desired result was sought to be obtained. In a num- 
ber of cases the Continental methods of legislation for each particular 
method of adulteration by a precise specification was adopted. In 
others the prohibition of adulterations by classes was attempted, after 
the English method. Moreover, the suppression of adulteration by 
absolute prohibition was used in some instances, while in others its 
repression by taxation was the method adopted. 

In the last-mentioned cases the taxes proposed were in some instances 
simply sufficient to support a system of control, but in other instances 
it has been proposed to levy such a tax as would practically be pro- 
hibitive against the production of a food product entering into com- 
petition with an old-established article of food manufacture. 

Among the efforts to secure legislation of a broad and fair character 
may be mentioned that for the enactment of the so-called "Paddock 
pure food bill." 

During all this time, either by special laws for particular products — 
dairy products may be specially mentioned — or by laws of a more 
general character, attempts have been made in a number of the States 



526 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

to secure the suppression of fraudulent dealings in foods and drugs. 
Among the States conspicuous in such activity may be mentioned 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, California, and Tennessee. 

The first steps taken in nearly all of those States were by the pro- 
hibition of the sale or mislabeling of certain special food products, such 
as oleomargarine, diluted milk, etc. But in later years the general 
tendency has been to enact pure-food laws of a broad scope, such as 
prohibit the adulteration and misbranding of all food products. In 
Massachusetts and Maine there have been added distinct systems of 
control of cattle food products. 

The administration of these various laws entered upon the statute 
books of the several States from time to time has been placed in a great 
variety of executive officers, and the laws themselves exhibit a great 
variety of form and requirement, with the consequent disadvantages 
of confusion and inequality embarrassing interstate commerce. 

In 1895 the Association of Agricultural Chemists of the United 
States — a body organized in 1884 and chiefly composed of chemists of 
the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Bureau 
of Internal Revenue, and of the several colleges and agricultural 
experiment stations organized under the national acts of 18f)2 and 
1887 — appointed a committee to consider what national legislation upon 
this subject was desirable, if any, the interest of this organization in 
the subject arising out of the fact that a very large number of the 
chemists were more and more called upon to serve in food control in 
the several States to which they belonged. 

In 1897 this committee presented a draft of a bill in many respects 
resembling the Paddock bill; and in the same year, as president of that 
association, I urged upon its members the importance of agitation for 
such legislation and for the appointment of a committee to gather the 
data for the preparation of a system of national food standards. 

Acting upon the latter suggestion, the association appointed a com- 
mittee on food standards, of which Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief chemist 
of the Department of Agriculture, was chairman. This committee, of 
which I also was a member, directed me to organize the work of col- 
lection of data and definitions in preparation for such a set of stand- 
ards. I might, in passing, remark that a large amount of compiling 
and of original investigation has been done by the several referees 
appointed to consider the subject relative to certain particular classes 
of food products, and that much of the work is now in readiness for 
the action of the main committee. 

Shortly after that time the Hon. Marriott Brosius, of Pennsylvania, 
introduced into the House of Representatives during the first session 
of the Fifty -fifth Congress a bill essentially that which was approved by 
the Association of Official Chemists; and the Brosius bill was also sub- 
mitted to the National Farmers' Congress, composed of delegates ap- 
pointed by the governments of the several States, so far as its essential 
nature was concerned. 

Feeling the necessity for the fullest cooperation of all interests con- 
cerned in such legislation, a committee of the citizens of the District 
of Columbia, composed of gentlemen engaged in the various food 
manufacturing and trade interests, and in the promotion of the public 
health and sanitation, formulated a plan for a national conference of 
all the interests thus affected; and in January of 1898 such a gathering 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 527 

was held, largely through the able efforts of Mr. Alexander J. Wed- 
derburn, master of the State Grange of Virginia and secretary of the 
committee of the District of Columbia, whose efforts were seconded 
strongly b}^ those of a number of the organizations which had previ- 
ously taken an interest in such legislation. 

At that gathering there were present representatives appointed by 
the heads of five of the national Executive Departments, by the gov- 
ernors of fifteen States, by about fifteen national trade, chemical, and 
health organizations, and by a large number of State and local organ- 
izations. Upon consideration of the work to be done, this conference 
effected a permanent organization under the name of the National Pure 
Food and Drug Congress. 

The Brosius bill was submitted to a committee of this congress, upon 
which committee every State having delegates present was represented. 
After a very careful consideration of all its provisions, it was accepted 
in a modified form and an executive committee was appointed under 
instruction to use all effort to secure the enactment of such a measure. 

This organization met again in January of the present year (1899), 
and on further consideration made certain modifications which were 
regarded as improvements upon the measure, but again affirmed a 
strong approval of the broad wisdom of its general features, and again 
called upon Congress for its enactment into law. 

It is regarded that that measure, which is framed on the English law 
and prohibits all adulteration and misbranding of all food products and 
drugs, is best adapted to meet our present needs, because, as the evi- 
dence already introduced before your committee has clearly estab- 
lished, the matters of adulteration and misbranding affect practically 
all classes of foods and drugs and are so manifold in device that piece- 
meal legislation must prove inadequate to afford any considerable 
remedy; and because, in the second place, the legislation will affect 
equally all interests concerned, favoring none and weighing unduly on 
none. In the third place, it avoids the tax features which, if simply 
sufficient in amount to pay the cost of the control, are often inter- 
preted as commending rather than disapproving the use of certain food 
substitutes; and, on the other hand, if of sufficient amount to be pro- 
hibited, will entire!}' prevent the introduction of many valuable cheap 
foods against whose introduction there can be no legitimate objection, 
except that of the interests of a particular class engaged in the pro- 
duction or manufacture of some old-established article. Finall}', the 
method of executive control which is proposed avoids as far as may 
be the endangering of trade interests and the increase of expenditure 
by the creation of new political offices, and seeks instead to use execu- 
tive machinery already well established. 

The objects of the National Pure Food and Drug Congress and the 
measure which it approves in its original form, together with a list of 
the interests represented in its membership, are shown in a memorial 
introduced by Senator Faulkner, of West Virginia, in the Fifty -fifth 
Congress, second session, as Document No. 233. In its form as 
amended at the second session of the Pure Food Congress, and further, 
as a result of conference between its officers and the members of the 
House Committee on Interstate Commerce, to whom the Brosius bill 
was referred, it will be found in Senate bill 4144, Fifty-fifth Con- 

fress, as reported from the Senate Committee on Agriculture and 
orestry, and accompanied by a report from Senator Hansbrough, 



528 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

chairman of the subcommittee having charge of the measure, as 
Document No. 1380. 

The Chairman. The National Pure Food and Drug Congress, 
through its legislative committee, and through its executive committee, 
have proposed certain minor changes in the original bill, and I would 
be glad if you would for the benefit of the committee explain these 
changes. 

Professor Frear. At a meeting of the executive committee of the 
National Pure Food and Drug Congress, held December 19, 1899, a 
number of changes were made in the way of amendments to the 
measure as approved by this organization. These changes were for the 
most part improvements in verbiage for the sake of increased clearness 
and definition in the measure. Aside from such changes, there was 
one other change, made to conform to a recommendation submitted by 
the Secretary of Agriculture in his late report to the President of the 
United States relative to the status of the Division of Chemistr}^ in 
his Department. This change consists essentially in providing for the 
organization of a bureau of chemistry to have charge of the work 
at present performed by the Division of Chemistry, of the work 
assigned to it by the provisions of the original Brosius bill, and of 
such other chemical work in collaboration with other Departments of 
the Government as may be requested by their respective heads from 
the Secretary of Agriculture. A copy of the measure in this final 
amended form will be presented to your committee by Dr. H. W. 
Wiley, chairman of the committee on legislation of the Pure Food 
Congress, who acts by instruction of the executive committee. 

The Chairman. I understand that in the matter of administration 
the Secretary of Agriculture should be consulted. Has the proposed 
change in regard to administration met with his approval? 

Professor Frear. This change relative to the organization for the 
executive management of the proposed control has been made after 
specific conference with the Secretary of Agriculture and with his 
distinct approval. 

The Chairman. The committee would be glad to know what your 
own personal experience has been in connection with the work in Penn- 
sylvania relative to food adulteration, both as an analyst and as an 
adviser of the administration of the law. 

Professor Frear. As chemist to the State department of agriculture 
of Pennsylvania and as secretary of the board of chemists to the State 
Dairy and Food Commission, it has been my duty to assist in the 
examination of food products, samples of which were collected under 
the various food laws of that State, and to witness the effects of the 
execution of such laws. 

Prior to 1895 there had been enacted a number of laws relative to 
the sale of milk, oleomargarine, and vinegar, but in 1895 the legisla- 
ture of the State enacted a general pure-food law based upon the Eng- 
lish laws; and since that time, when adequate provision was made for 
the enforcement of the law, a very general examination of food prod- 
ucts sold in various parts of the State has been made. The result has 
been to reveal a very widespread introduction of adulterated materials 
and misbranded goods. 

Upon an examination of the vinegars sold in the mining regions of 
central Pennsylvania several years since, I found that of those sold as 
cider vinegar nearly three-fourths were, instead, low-wine vinegars, 



ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 529 

artificially colored. A number of samples of vinegar made from the 
wastes of sugar refineries have also come to my notice, bearing the 
brand of cider vinegar, and, more recently, to avoid the simpler meth- 
ods used for the detection of the above-named substitutes, there has 
been produced in the State a large amount of low-wine vinegar, to 
which the standard amount of solids has been added in the form of 
cheap apple jelly made from the parings left as residues in the manu- 
facture of desiccated apples. 

The adulteration of spices is very general, and a very large propor- 
tion of the samples of cream of tartar examined by me were found to 
consist either of terra alba, or terra alba with a little free tartaric acid, 
or cream of tartar diluted with terra alba, or of acid calcium phosphate. 

The sale of oleomargarine as butter was pretty common. 

A very large fraction of the flavoring extracts were spurious. 

The coffees were also in a very large measure made up of coffee 
substitutes, often very ingeniously prepared. 

The department has not attempted any extensive examination of 
the drinks sold in the State, and the examination of drug products is 
not comprised in the duties devolving upon the department of agri- 
culture of the State. 

The result of four years of operation of the law of 1895 has been a 
very large reduction of the number of food substitutes offered under 
false brands in the State of Pennsylvania, but sophisticators are con- 
stantly introducing new substitutes and adopting new devices for the 
evasion of the legal requirements. The cost of so doing, however, is 
naturally increased, and the number of sophistications now found is 
much less than formerly was. Public sentiment, too, has constantly 
grown in support of the effort to repress the sale under misleading 
names of food preparations. There is, nevertheless, need of constant 
watchfulness by those trained to the work to prevent the rapid devel- 
opment of the sale of such materials. 

The Chairman. Will you now state for the benefit of the committee 
your observations in regard to the administration of the Pennsylvania 
State law relative to food adulteration, and also mention any difficul- 
ties which you may have found in the way of administration? Will 
you also state 3^our opinion of the proposed measure as approved by 
the Pure-Food Congress and its executive committee. 

Professor Frear. In the workings of the State law, both in Penn- 
sylvania and in other States, with the operation of whose food laws 
I have gained some familiarity, there are several very pronounced 
difliculties. 

In the first place, the burden of proscution necessarily falls first, and 
often altogether, upon the retailer. He is undoubtedly in many instances 
guilty of knowingly offering for sale spurious and misbranded articles, 
but there are many cases in which he himself is the victim of misrep- 
resentation, and in cases where the goods have been purchased from 
jobbers or manufacturers living without the confines of the State of 
which he is a resident he has practically no redress. There is too con- 
siderable a proportion of cases of this character to permit the matter 
to be passed by with indifference as of that class of injustices which 
the practical working of human affairs is unable wholly to prevent. 

Another difficulty is also found in the fact that goods offered through 
the State in original packages are, under the decisions of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, not within the control of State officials, 
F p 34 



530 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and the difficulty is further increased by the fact that there has never 
been a decisive interpretation of this decision to define the nature, size, 
etc., of an original package. 

This difficulty is further enhanced by the increased practice of put- 
ting up in the factory itself the manufactured products into small and 
convenient sealed packages, which are never broken by the retailer, 
instead of their transportation in bulk to the retailer, as was formerly 
the practice. 

Owing to those difficulties, and to the need of some widely recognized 
pattern upon which legal regulations and local standards might be 
based, it is clear that a national law governing the commerce between 
the States would prove a most valuable supplement to the existing 
State legislation on the same subject, permitting the relief under proper 
guaranty of the retailer from existing injustice, the control of sales in 
original package, promoting the general unification of food-control 
legislation, and the execution of State laws. 

The Association of State Dairy and Food Commissioners, which met 
in October, 1899, in Chicago, passed a resolution urging the enactment 
of the measure advocated by the National Pure Food and Drug Congress 
as best adapted to secure these desired ends without in any way inter- 
fering with that police control of commerce that is entirely within the 
confines of the several States, which has been specifically reserved by 
the Constitution of the United States to the State governments. 

Aside from the great value of such a law as supplementing the legis- 
lation of the several States, it should further be considered that such 
legislation, of a wise and uniform character, is greatly needed for the 
protection of legitimate commerce within the Territories, over which 
the Congress of the United States has exclusive control, and also that 
the legitimate food products prepared and produced by residents of 
the United States are subject to severe competition with cheap, mis- 
branded, and adulterated substitutes, which are imported to our mar- 
kets from foreign lands; and that for protection from such competi- 
tion the various interests concerned must look to Congress alone; and, 
finally, it is a subject that has in recent years been frequently called 
forcibly to the attention of American producers and manufacturers, 
because of the exportation into our best markets of inferior, misbranded 
food products, prepared by a few of our citizens and ofi'ered abroad 
at the cost of American reputation for business honesty, and of the 
consequent control, or even exclusion, of important groups of American 
food products from markets which have hitherto been among those in 
which the American producer secured his highest aim. 

So that the honest manufacturer and producer must look again to 
Congress for the protection that his interests so much need against the 
attacks on his foreign markets made by unscrupulous men in our own 
land. 

The measure advocated by the National Pure Food and Drug Con- 
gress in its latest amended form has been carefully drawn so as to 
include within its scope all the objects above mentioned, and we trust 
that your honorable body, upon a careful consideration of the facts 
secured by your investigation, and of the representations made in 
behalf of such a representative body as the National Pure Food and 
Drug Congress, may be led to recommend the enactment of the meas- 
ure we have advocated. 

The subcommittee adjourned subject to the call of the chairman. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 531 

Washington, D. C, December 'B^^ 1899. 
The subcommittee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m. 

Present : Senators Mason (chairman) and Harris ; also, Dr. H. W. 
Wiley, of the Agricultural Department. 

STATEMENT OF PROF. PETER T. AUSTEN, Ph. D. 

Dr. Austen was sworn and examined as follows : 

The Chairman. What is your name, residence, and occupation ? 

Dr. Austen. My name is Peter T. Austen ; I reside in Brooklyn, 
N. Y. , and my profession is that of chemist. 

The Chairman. Please mention what experience and training you 
have had. 

Dr. Austen. I was graduated from the Columbia College School of 
Mines in 1872; studied several years in Berlin under Professor Hof- 
man; came back to this country and filled the chair of chemistry at 
Dartmouth College. Later on I was professor of chemistry at Rutgers 
College and the New Jersey State Scientific School, and later in the 
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. I am a member of the chemical 
societies of Germany and England, and was presiding officer of the 
New York section of the American Chemical Society for three years. 
I have been a member of the chemical societies of France and Russia. 
I have also occupied the position of chemist to the boards of health of 
Richmond County, N. Y., the city of Newark, N. J., and the cit}^ of 
New Brunswick, N. J., and also to the joint board of the Newark 
(N. J.) aqueduct board and the Jersey City department of city works. 
I have also been State chemist of New Jersey, and chemist to the New 
Jersey State board of agriculture. Before the consolidation of the 
cities of New York and Brooklyn I was civil-service examiner in 
chemistry for the cit}^ of Brooklyn. 

I should explain that it was expected that Prof. Austin Flint and 
Dr. E. E. Smith, of New York, would be able to appear with me 
to-day, but it was impossible for those gentlemen to come, and there- 
fore it was thought advisable that I should, in addition to what I may 
be able to say myself, submit some results of certain work they are 
doing. 

To explain my connection with this matter, I wish to state that some 
time ago I was asked by several prominent manufacturers of alum bak- 
ing powder to look into the state of the literature and art and to report 
to them the result of my studies, particularly as to the experimental 
side of it. In consequence of that request I went over the literature 
very carefully, read the various articles, and looked up the references, 
and formed an opinion about the condition of the subject. I found 
that there is a very large amount of printed matter bearing upon the 
use of alum in foods and baking powders, and especially as regards 
baking powders. I found that there had been for some years what 
might be called a general education of the public as to the harmf ulness 
of alum when used in baking powders. Most of this matter was pub- 
lished in newspapers and journals, and I found that it was not properly 
reading matter, but matter paid for as advertisements, and that many 
of the journals which had published the articles had made contracts 
with the various cream of tartar baking powder concerns which in 
effect did not allow them to publish any matter that was contradictory 



532 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

to the paid reading matter published by them. I concluded, therefore, 
that such reading matter was properly advertising matter and hardly 
entitled to scientific respect. 

1 also read a good many articles the gist of which was that the use 
of alum in baking powders was injurious, because it was alum, the 
inference being that the alum would exert the same effect on the human 
system whether it was taken as alum or taken in the form of food pre- 
pared with alum baking powder. That was reiterated in a great many 
ways. Statements of an analogous nature were made about cream of 
tartar baking powders, in favor of its healthful ness, to the effect that 
cream of tartar being a product of the grape, it was eminently proper 
and healthful to use baking powders made of cream of tartar. Those 
appear to me to be entirely paid advertising statements and not merit- 
ing scientific respect. 

I also found a certain number of published reports containing more 
or less of what might be called experimental investigations by scien- 
tific men, and these were opposed to each other in various ways. Some 
of those, it seemed to me, had been made with a definite intention to 
answer a certain question, whatever it might be, but they did not 
appear to really answer the questions involved. I found articles, for 
instance, giving the effects of various substances, such as the hydrate 
of alumina, which is produced when alum baking powders are used in 
the preparation of food; and similar experiments. Those, again, I did 
not consider as constituting scientific proof, because the question was not 
whether the hydrate of alumina, in the case of alum baking powders, 
or the Rochelle salts, in the case of cream-of -tartar baking powders, was 
or was not harmful in large quantities, much larger than one would 
possibly get in eating food prepared with those powders, but the real 
question was whether the food prepared with the various baking 
powders was harmful or not. 

There has also been considerable attention drawn to the effect of 
alum as a poison, as well as other substances, but as Professor Chit- 
tenden said when appearing before your committee in New York, the 
use of the word "poison" is very indefinite. Almost any substance is 
a poison if you take enough of it. Baking soda, yeast, alum — almost 
any substance, even apples, if you take enough will produce physi- 
ological disturbances. We ought to confine ourselves entirely to the 
quantities in which these substances are taken normally and not con- 
sider whether baking powder, or baking soda, or any substance used 
as a food or in the preparation of food, is a poison when taken in 
excessive or abnormal amounts, but what the effects are when taken in 
such amounts as would naturally occur in food prepared by their use. 
We have a large use of borax and salicylic acid in the preparation 
and preservation of food, but so far as I know no injurious effect has 
been traced to their use. Wintergreen is a common flavor and is a 
salicylic acid compound. In the amount taken as a flavoring it does not 
produce, so far as I know, any injurious results. 

Senator Harris. Let me ask you a question. While the amount 
each time may be small, have you considered the effect of the continued 
use of small quantities? 

Dr. Austen. Yes; but where it is not a cumulative substance there 
is no reason to suppose that you get any effect. Cream of tartar, 
taken in sufficient quantities, produces physiological effects. It pro- 
duces griping if taken in sufficient quantities. You can eat a pound 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 533 

of grapes a day, and in that way get quite a quantity of cream of tar- 
tar; but it is not, so far as I know, a cumulative substance. 

In taking mercurous chloride, or calomel, or certain poisons of the 
type which when taken in minute quantities produce physiological 
effects, you have to be careful that you do not exceed a certain amount 
a day; otherwise you may get a cumulative effect. I ha v^e not found 
any proof that hydrate of alumina in small amounts produce a cumu- 
lative effect. I have gone over the literature carefully and have con- 
sulted gentlemen who stand very high in their profession, but I have 
not been able to find that borax or boracic acid or salicylic acid or the 
bisulphites in minute amounts, such as occur in food products, produce 
a cumulative effect. I have not been able to find any experiments 
establishing this. 

I suppose. Senator, it is so well understood how the alum baking 
powder acts that it is hardly necessary for me to enter upon that sub- 
ject? 

The Chairman. There has been quite a large amount of evidence on 
the subject. Whatever you think ought to go in to make your evi- 
dence connected we will be glad to have. 

Dr. Austen. 1 will say briefly that the action of an alum baking 
powder is this: When the alum is mixed with bicarbonate of soda, 
moistened, and subjected to heat, a chemical reaction takes place which 
results in the evolution of the carbonic acid gas, which inflates and 
leavens the dough and produces, as a side product, sulphate of soda 
and what is commonly called the hydrate of alumina. Those comprise 
the residuum which is left in the bread. This idea is applied in various 
ways to generate gas. 

In cream of tartar baking powder the acid bitartrate of potassium, 
which is cream of tartar, is mixed with bicarbonate of soda and water, 
and also evolves carbonic acid gas. The residuum that is left in the 
bread in this case is what is commonly termed rochelle salts. Or, 
dough can be mixed with bicarbonate of soda and a carefully meas- 
ured quantity of hj^drochloric acid, which causes an evolution of 
carbonic acid gas and leaves a residuum consisting of common salt. 
Any substances which will evolve carbonic gas, under proper condi- 
tions, not too quickly, and leave an innocuous residuum, could be 
used as a baking powder if practical as to cost and other conditions. 

Alum is also used very largely in the filtration of water — to the 
extent of hundreds of tons. The reaction is the same, but applied in 
a different way. In the water, instead of bicarbonate of soda, there is 
bicarbonate of lime and with this the alum enters into chemical reac- 
tion. Carbonic acid gas is evolved, but it stays in solution in the 
water. Gelatinous hydrate of alumina is precipitated, and tangles up 
the fine suspended matter, agglomerating it and making masses large 
enough to be removed by the filter bed. The turbidity which would 
filter through a sand filter without clarification b}^ the action of the 
alum is coagulated and forms masses easily removed by the sand filter 
bed. The filter bed is washed by reversing the current. Those filter 
plants are used in Atlanta, in Kansas City, and in many other places 
throughout the country for filtering water for use in cities, and for 
manufacturing purposes. It is known as the coagulo-filtration method 
and it is carried out on a large scale. 

Bills have been introduced in various States making it a misdemeanor 
to use alum in the preparation of food. Such a law would naturally 



534 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

affect this method of filtration of water, in which millions of dollars 
have been invested for city plants, because water is a food and is used 
in the preparation of food, and hence under such laws the sale of alum 
to filtration plants would become a misdemeanor, and is so now under 
the Missouri law. 

The Chairman. What States prohibit the use of alum ? 

Dr. Austen. In the State of Missouri there is a law which makes it 
a misdemeanor to put into food any substance containing arsenic, cal- 
omel, bismuth, ammonia, or alum. I do not know why calomel or 
arsenic should be specified. I never heard of arsenic or bismuth or 
calomel being used in the preparation of food. Such a law was passed 
in Missouri and there is a case under it now pending. A bill for 
exactly the same law was introduced in the Georgia legislature last 
month but was not passed. 

A bill to enact a law precisely the same in its wording is now before 
the legislature of Virginia, and I have been informed that similar bills 
were to be introduced in the legislatures of Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
New York, Connecticut, and perhaps some other States. It is under- 
stood that bills of this nature will be introduced in all legislatures 
where it is practicable, as nearly as possible at the same time. 

Of course this is an instance of manufacturing legislation, the bills 
emanating from one source. It is an attempt to gain the assistance of 
State legislation in preventing the sale of competitors' products. 

I may say here that if any legislation at all is required, it should be 
framed to protect the interests of the public, and not one of several 
rival manufacturers. It should be based entirely on the residuum left 
in the food, for the reason that no matter how bread is made, the sub- 
stances which are going to affect the people who eat the bread are not 
what is put into the bread, but what is left in the bread. For instance, 
you use yeast. It does not make any difference whether yeast is a 
poison or not. If you drank a pint of yeast you would be in a most 
unfortunate condition, but when bread is made with yeast you do not 
eat the yeast, for there is no yeast left in the bread. It is destroyed 
in the preparation of the food. 

You do not eat cream of tartar when bread is made with cream of 
tartar baking powder; nor, when it is made with alum baking powder, 
do you eat alum. You eat some Rochelle salt in the case of cream of 
tartar bread, and a little sulphate of soda and hydrate of alumina, if 
that is what they are, when the bread is made with alum baking pow- 
der. If the residuum is harmful, then legislation is needed. But leg- 
islation directed against what is put into the bread, and which is altered 
or disappears in the finished product, does not solve the problem or 
necessarily protect the public. It is just like the use of sulphurous 
acid in cider, which is a common practice on the farm. So far as I 
have been able to ascertain, the cider after a little time does not con- 
tain any sulphurous acid. It is converted into sulphuric acid, which 
combines with the bases present and remains in a harmless condition. 

I do not think it is necessary to sav anything here about the harm- 
fulness or harmlessness of alum, because it does not enter into the food 
product. Bread properly made with our alum baking powder has not 
been shown to be injurious. I say "properly" because I do not think 
it is fair to take as a subject of comparison an article of food which is 
improperly made, for bread can be made very badly with ordinary 
yeast or anything else. Bread made with alum baking powder does 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 535 

not contain, so far as I have been able to ascertain, any unchanged 
alum. Neither does bread made with cream of tartar baking- powder 
contain cream of tartar; nor does either contain baking soda. It is 
entirely converted; so that there is no use of spending time in consid- 
ering so far as this matter is concerned, whether alum itself is harmful 
or harmless when taken in considerable quantities, because there is no 
alum left in the bread made with alum l)aking powder. 

In looking over these matters carefully I came across some refer- 
ences to the nature of the effects of residues left in bread when alum 
baking power is used. Several authorities have stated that the h3^drate 
of alumina left in bread is perfectly harmless. Dr. Petraeus states 
that experiments have been made by various parties which have led to 
the conclusion that under practical conditions it is harmless. The 
minute quantity of sulphate of soda left in a loaf of bread is so small 
that it can be overlooked. In fact it is claimed now that it is rather a 
necessary article in digestion. It has been stated by the Grape Nut 
Company, who are advertising very largely their grape-nut food, that 
one of the most advantageous points in their grape-nut is the presence 
of a certain amount of sulphate of soda. 

At all events, I think we all agree that this factor can be omitted, 
for it is so extremely small that I do not think any trace of a physio- 
logical effect can be obtained from it one way or the other. It is not 
worth while to consider cases where a food product contains so small 
an amount of a substance that to eat enough of that food product to 
get a physiological effect from that substance is going to upset your 
entire digestive system. If you were to eat four loaves of bread at a 
sitting, you would have no means at all of deciding which particular 
ingredient made the most trouble. 

There is another interesting point which has to be taken into account 
when the analyses of bread are studied, and that is the presence of alumina 
in the flour itself. I have not had an opportunity to study the subject 
much; but Dr. Sutton, who is an English chemist of eminence, states 
that that substance is found in almost all flours. He states that in 
almost all flours he analyzes he finds a certain amount of alumina. I 
have not been able to find any reference to it in this country. It 
probably comes from the millstones. I imagine that flour will not be 
condemned on account of the presence of alumina in it. 

The Chairman. It might come from terra alba or barytes. 

Dr. Austen. There is not much flour adulteration now. 

The Chairman. There is not so much now, but we found large 
amounts of it a year ago. 

Dr. Austen. Yes; there have been cases where it has been adulter- 
ated. 

The Chairman. I will tell you, for your information, that the Gov- 
ernment has found over 11,000 barrels in the last twelve months under 
the bill of last year. , . 

Dr. Austen. Of terra alba? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Dr. Austen, It is a very handy article for the adulterator. 

I also found certain experiments on the effects of what has been 
termed "baking-powder residuum." Professor Mallet, an eminent 
authority of Virginia, made a set of experiments in which he prepared 
the residuum from alum baking powder by simply warming it with 
water, collecting the insoluble residue, which consisted of hydrate of 



536 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

alumina, and heating it to the temperature which he states exists in 
the center of a loaf of bread. He then ate quite large quantities of it, 
and noted the effect produced upon himself. His conclusion was that 
it produced an oppressive sensation. He thought it gave him indi- 
gestion. I am very frank to say that I do not think the experiments 
are of much weight, etc. 

Dr. C. A. Crampton, in Bulletin 13, part 5, of the Chemical Division 
of the Department of Agriculture, makes the following statement in 
regard to Mallet's experiments: "I may say that most of those based 
on purely chemical work I can indorse, having confirmed many in my 
own work; but I think the evidence furnished by his physiological 
work is hardly sufficient to justify his conclusions as to the harmful- 
ness of such powders." 

Dr. Mallet is an eminent man, but he is not considered to be a physio- 
logical chemist; and I question whether one who is not accustomed to 
experimenting on himself is in a position to observe accurately the 
effects of a substance on himself. 

I think if any man not accustomed to such experiments were to eat 
a certain substance and think, "Is this affecting me in one way or the 
other," he would probably feel something unusual. Violent diarrhea 
has been produced by a glass of water with a suggestion that it would 
produce that effect. There are cases on record where constipation has 
been cured, or at least mitigated, by feeding pills of bread with the 
suggestion that they would produce a violent effect. I think the 
experiments of Dr. Mallet are not applicable here, particularly because 
(and I want to make this very clear) it seems to me there is just one 
•question in this whole matter, and it is not whether alum produces an 
effect upon the human system, or whether the residues of alum pow- 
ders produce effects harmful or harmless, but whether the food as 
popularly made with alum baking powder is or is not harmful. 

Senator Harris. Did you say "popularly" or "properly" made? 

Dr. Austen. Popularly; as it is ordinarily made in the household. 

Senator Harris. I did not understand whether you said "popularly" 
or "properly." 

Dr. Austen. Let us assume that the bread is made properly. The 
food made and used throughout the country, as a rule, is. But the 
question is. Is the food made and used throughout the country with 
alum baking powder healthful or unhealthf ul 'i That seems to me to 
be the only real point under consideration and the one which must be 
determined by actual experiments. While experiments made with the 
chemicals or the residuum from baking powders may l)e inferential, at 
the same time I do not think they can be fairly considered as proofs. I 
do not think, for instance, that you could fairly infer what effect an 
apple would have upon you by studying the properties of malic acid. 
It is not the fair way. While Professor Mallet's experiments are 
interesting, he would not be in a position to say what would be the 
effect upon you or upon me of food prepared with the use of* alum 
baking powder. His experin ent on himself ought to have been accom- 
panied with analyses of his feces, etc. Suppose one of us should eat 
a lot of mince pie and then keep thinking about it, might not a sen- 
sation of oppression be noticed? But would that condemn the general 
use of mince pie? Dr. Jenkins, a most eminent chemist, whoappeared 
before your committee, stated that he personally could not eat sugar. 
Suppose Professor Mallet can not eat hydrate of alumina, or Dr. 



ADULTERATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 537 

Jenkins sugar, what does it prove? I do not think such experiments 
establish our point, which is whether a food made with alum })aking 
powder is harmful or not. If it is, it ought to be prohibited by law. 
If it is not, I think that so important an industry ought to be allowed 
to continue. 

The Chairman. Who is Professor Mallet? 

Dr. Austen. He is connected with the University of Virginia. 

The Chairman. He has not been before this committee? 

Dr. Austen. No, sir. He has made a great reputation in technical 
chemistry. He is the inventor of a process of making oxygen, which 
was one of the first and most noted ones. I do not think that he con- 
siders himself a physiological chemist. Physiological chemists com- 
prise a very small class in this country. It is a comparatively new 
subject and an extremely difficult one. It requires a very elaborate 
outfit in some wa3^s. One has to experiment on animals and human 
beings. One has really to be a physiologist, a chemist, and something 
of a ph3^sician. 

If you want an investigation made on that subject you will find very- 
great difficulty in getting anybody in the country to do it, and if an 
expert can undertake it it is very unlikely he can do it within a year 
of the day called on. We have several in this country — Professor 
Atwater, for instance, whose work is connected with the State gov- 
ernment; Professor Chittenden, of Yale, perhaps the most eminent 
physiological chemist in certain ways. A younger school is rising, 
comprising but a few. I do not think there are more than six or eight 
men competent to do it. That is one reason why the study of this sub- 
ject has not advanced. The chemists have made many analyses, and 
they have fed pigs, cats, and dogs hydrate of alumina or anything else 
they may have thought of, and then have made inferences ; but that does 
not answer the one question which I maintain is the crucial one. Do 
the bread or food products made with alum baking powder produce 
harmful results? 

I have here an abstract from which I could quote opinions of various 
parties, eminent men, who state that hydrate of alumina has no bad 
effects; that alum baking powder produces bread which is perfectly 
healthful, and so on ; but, as I say, I think most of these results have 
not been obtained from the kind of investigation which it seems to me 
represents the state of the science and the art. 

One of the latest statements about the entire harmlessness of bread 
made with alum baking powder has been made by Dr. Henry Froeling, 
of Richmond, Va., dated July 24, 1899, in answer to a request from 
the Hon. G. W. Koiner, commissioner of agriculture of Virginia. The 
request was as follows: 

There has been considerable discussion and inquiry about the comparative health- 
fuhiess of baking powders containing alum and those containing cream of tartar, and 
to encourage and foster manufacturing enterprises in Virginia, there being a large 
ainount of money invested in this State in the manufacture of these baking powders, 
giving employment to himdreds of people, this department considered it to the public 
interest to investigate this matter. To ascertain the facts I have had samples of bak- 
ing powders made of alum, of Virginia manufacture, analyzed by one of the ablest 
analytical chemists of the country, Dr. Henry Froeling, of Virginia. His report, 
which follows, shows that our Virginia-made baking powders are as healthful as 
other brands of baking powders costing four or five times as much. 

I want to say that I am not here to criticise any other kind of bak- 
ing powder. I do not want to say that any baking powder is bad. 



538 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman. I think your statement at the opening was very 
fair — that you appear here at the request of certain alum baking- 
powder people. 

Dr. Austen. Simply to endeavor to show that their product does 
not make an unhealthf ul food. 

Dr. Froeling concludes by saying: 

From my experiments, carefully made, a well-compounded bakinf^ powder with 
alum as an ingredient in the recognized proportions is as harmless as the best cream 
of tartar powder; indeed, it is less harmful, as the cream of tartar powder leaves in 
the bread a large residue of tartrate of potash and soda (rochelle salts) . 

I find that well-compounded baking powders with alum as an ingredient give a 
leavening effect fully equal to the higher-priced baking powders costing four or five 
times as much. 

There was formed what is known as the American Baking Powder 
Association, which is an association of the manufacturers of alum and 
phosphate baking powders, and one of their objects was to make a 
thorough investigation into the matter and find out, if possible, what 
the facts were. I was asked by them to take charge of the scientific 
work, and I reported to the association that there was just one thing 
to be done, and only one thing, and that was to find out whether the 
food made with alum baking powder was or was not harmful; that I 
could make analyses and feed all sorts of animals and human beings 
with hydrate of alumina and other substances, but even then I should 
only be able to infer as to the healthf ulness or harmf ulness of the food 
made therewith. So I strongly advised that experts should be retained 
who could make a study, chemically and physiologically, of food made 
with alum baking powder. My suggestion was adopted, and I was 
authorized to retain such experts as could be found to undertake the 
investigations. 

It was a difficult matter, at the moment, to begin the experiments, but 
I finally succeeded in retaining for the work a man whom I consider to 
be preeminently distinguished. Prof. Austin Flint, whom I take to be 
one of the most distinguished physiologists living. The name of Flint 
is well known all over the country. He told me the other day a fact 
which interested me, that there are practicing in this country 5,000 
physicians who have been his students. I think that is a very unusual 
record. 

To satisfy myself at the start as to the nature of this investigation 
and just what we ought to determine I submitted two questions, which 
are these: 

In your experience as a physician, who has given much attention to the subject of 
indigestion, have you ever had a patient whose diseased condition of the digestive 
system, in your opinion, could be attributed, either wholly or in part, to the use of 
alum baking powder in the food? 

Or have you, in your experience as a physician, ever been led to attribute any 
functional disorder or diseased condition to the use of alum baking powder in food? 

Dr. Flint says: 

In answer to both of the above questions I reply that I have not. 

Professor Flint is a man of great eminence and very wide knowledge 
of medical practice, and I was led to believe from this statement that 
the matter of a specific form of disturbance of the digestive system, 
resulting from the use of food prepared with alum baking powder, 
might be excluded from our studies. We therefore did not have to 
look for any special diseases arising from its use. I also retained 



1 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 539 

in the matter Dr. E. E. Smith, formerly instructor in Yale College 
and assistant of Professor Chittenden, and who is now an independent 
physiological chemist, making a specialty of the analysis of physiolog- 
ical products and studying them chemically and investigating all matters 
relating to physiological chemistry. 

Dr. bmith started at once to carry out certain experiments which 
Dr. Flint, Dr. Smith, and I discussed and agreed upon as most effica- 
cious or most likely to indicate the results we wanted to get at, using 
a good type of alum baking powder — that is, a popular type — and get- 
ting the powder in the market and making with it bread, Dr. Smith 
making it himself, under proper conditions, and using that bread as 
the basis for his experiments. 

It was necessary to get a standard for comparison. With that object 
in view we decided^ that we would make what we would call a control 
or normal bread; that is, a bread made with hydrochloric acid and 
bicarbonate of soda, properly weighed out in their proper proportions. 
Made under those conditions we would have a bread which would con- 
tain absolutely nothing extraneous to the flour and the usual additions 
except a small amount of salt, which is produced by the action of the 
hydrochloric acid on the bicarbonate of soda. That was our control 
bread. 

These breads were made by Dr. Smith himself, very carefully, and 
they were reduced to crumbs and sampled, so that the material would 
show an even composition. The first experiment was made with arti- 
ficial digestion, known as proteolysis, with pepsin-hydrochloric acid, 
using hydrochloric acid and a solution of pepsin. I will not weary 
you with the figures unless you wish them, but the idea of the experi- 
ment was that a certain amount, an equal amount of the alum bread, 
we will call it, and of the control bread were mixed in water, placed 
in water heated to the proper temperature and agitated, and then a 
certain amount of the hydrochloric acid and pepsin was added at 
different times. After forty-eight hours the undigested residue was 
separated by filtration, washed, and the amount of nitrogen in the 
filtrate and residue was determined. The result of the experiment was 
that the alum bread left 99 per cent in nitrogenous material undissolved 
and the control bread 98.85. - 

That was well within the limits of error, being only a small amount, 
fifteen hundredths of 1 per cent. I should say, by the way, that in 
these physiological experiments we»are allowed a little more leeway 
in checking than we are in the analysis of ore, where we come out very 
close. We consider that practically a perfect agreement. In other 
words, in the alum bread there was 1 per cent of nitrogenous matter 
dissolved, and in the control bread 1.15. They were practically the 
same, showing no difference. 

Having established that point to our satisfaction, the next experi- 
ments were made upon human beings, and in the same way bread was 
made with alum baking powder and the control bread was made in the 
same way with bicarbonate of soda and hydrochloric acid. Those were 
the two breads used all along. Then the human being was got into a 
proper normal condition and was fed with a diet of determined compo- 
sition, consisting of the two breads and meat, milk, butter, and water, 
so as to give him an average diet. At the conclusion of the experi- 
ments he was given doses of lampblack, so that the color of the feces 
would determine the passage of the last amount of substances through 



540 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

him. His feces and urine were collected and analyzed. We were 
unable to find any appreciable difference between the effects of the 
alum bread and the control bread. In the case of alum bread the nitro- 
gen of the feces gave 4.237 grams and the control bread gave 4.759; 
that is, the per cent of available nitrogen in the feces from the alum 
bread was 90.8 per cent and in the control bread it was 90 per cent. 
These results are practically the same. 

Of course, it is needless to say that in a human being it is not easy 
to get perfect checks, for the reason that a man does not always 
excrete the same, and because of the difficulty of collecting the feces, 
and so on. From a chemico-physiological standpoint these two anal- 
yses are perfect checks. Indican in the urine in both cases was of 
moderate amount. The sulphates combined with aromatic compounds 
in the case of the alum bread were 0.556 grams and in the control 
bread 0. 528 grams. I may also say that a number of experiments are 
still under way and can not be reported upon at this time. It is very 
slow work. It takes several weeks to make one of these experiments 
satisfactorily, and there is an immense amount of analytical work 
involved. 

The next set of experiments — these are also under way, using 
several human subjects — was to ascertain the influence of the bread 
made with alum baking powder on the secretion of the gastric juice. 
These experiments were diflScult on account of the trouble in securing 
men to submit to them. We succeeded in getting several men who 
are normal, and I consider that they are excellent subjects. They are 
either young doctors or medical students who take an interest in the 
experiments. They are not told what they are given. I consider that 
quite important. If I gave a man water and told him it contained a 
cathartic he might show some cathartic effect. They are given 60 
grains of one bread or the other bread and a certain amount of water. 
They come in the morning; they have had nothing to eat, and they are 
fed with these materials, and then exactly an hour afterwards their 
stomach contents are pumped out and analyzed. 

Without wearying you with the figures, the results of these experi- 
ments show that there is no appreciable difference between the influence 
of the control bread and the influence of the alum-made baking-powder 
bread on the secretion of the gastric juice. It is practically the same. 
Dr. Smith sums up his results of these experiments in his conclusion, 
as follows: 

In the experiments, the results of which are here briefly outHned, no difference 
was manifest in the influence on the digestive process of the Layton (alum) bread 
and the control bread. So far as has been observed, then, the residue resulting from 
the use of Layton alum powder has not diminished the digestibility of the food prod- 
uct or interfered with the digestive process. 

That is as far as our experiments have gone. By the 1st of Feb- 
ruary we shall have reports on a number of others. 

But, as I said at the start, I am strongly of the opinion that the only 
real question to be answered is whether food products made with alum 
baking powders are harmful or harmless, and this can only be deter- 
mined by physiological, or what may be called chemical physiological 
experiments made on the food products themselves. I consider 
that much experimental work done with the various chemicals is not 
rehable. The results can be used only as inferences, and inferences 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 541 

have been made from them that are not justified. I consider the class 
of work which is done on the food products by a physiological chemist, 
working with a physiologist, the only kind of experimental work 
which really solves the problem and answers the question as to whether 
alum baking powder is or is not a harmful substance when used in the 
preparation of food. That is about the gist of what I wish to say. I 
am very sorry that Dr. Flint and Dr. Smith could not be here, because 
they are both enthusiastic about their work, and of course could give 
you more details than I can, although I am following their work con- 
tinually and know what is being done. 

I may say that many eminent physicians have signed answers to the 
questions which I read to you. I wanted to feel before I went into 
this matter and while I was in it that I had not to deal with some spe- 
cific disease or functional disturbance caused by food prepared with 
alum baking powder. If that were the case we should institute inves- 
tigations at once on that subject; but I have not been able to get from 
the most eminent physicians in New York and several other cities an 
opinion that anyone has ever observed any functional disturbance which 
could be traced to the use of alum baking powders when used in the 
preparation of food. I considered, therefore, that the experiments 
that have been made under my direction and are being made were the 
ones called for and were crucial and final. As I have said, we have 
been absolutely unable to find, by most carefully and exactly conducted 
chemico-physiological experiments, the slightest difference in results 
between control bread free from any residuum except salt and the 
bread made with alum baking powder. 

The Chairman. Senator Harris, do you wish to ask any questions? 

Senator Haeris. Yours has been a very interesting statement. 
Doctor. Of course you have dealt, in your experiments, with a baking 
powder prepared in a scientific manner ? 

Dr. Austen. Do you mean with the control bread ? 

Senator Harris. No; I am speaking of the alum baking powder. 

Dr. Austen. The baking powder used in our experiments was made 
by the Layton Baking Powder Company in St. Louis. The reason 
why we happened to select that powder was that the Layton powder is 
the one which is going to come up in the first case in Missouri, under 
the Missouri law, and the powder had been analyzed with great care 
by Professor Kaiser, of the University of St. Louis, which saved us 
some of the analj^tical work. We would have taken any other powder, 
but the Layton is a well-known powder and appears to be a very fair 
type of the alum baking powders sold on the market. 

Senator Harris. In determining the question of residuum, in the 
first place, before you proceed to ascertain its effects — in other words, 
in arriving at the fact as to what there is in the way of residuum — you 
have to deal, taking the question broadly, with powders prepared in a 
great many different ways; that is, the formulas would be more or less 
different, would they not? 

Dr. Austen. The only appreciable difference would be that some 
are more concentrated and some a little less. 

I may say, by the way, that there is one point which I do not think 
is very clearly understood. We talk about alum baking powders. 
What is used to-day in baking powders is not what is popularly known 
as alum. It used to be alum which had been calcined. They began 



542 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

a few years ago to use the old potash alum. If you went to a drug 
store and asked for alum you would get that. Later on it was found 
that ammonia alum for certain reasons had a better effect. 

In making alum baking powder the evolution of gas must be so 
regulated that it will go off slowly and in accordance with the tem- 
perature. If it goes off too quickly the bread swells up in a big bubble; 
if too slowly it will not rise. After a great deal of experimenting the 
manufacturers succeeded in getting the so-called alums to the point 
where the evolution of the gas was exactly the same as in the case of 
cream of tartar or any other baking powder, such as phosphate, so that 
the amount of gas given off is just the right amount for the tempera- 
ture. That was the second stage. 

The use of sulphate of alumina is increasing very largely. You are 
aware, of course, that alum is immensely used in the manufacture of 
paper — to the extent of thousands of tons. In alum the sulphate of 
alumina is the active principle. Sulphate of alumina is a very soluble 
substance, and it was found difficult to purify it and get it perfectly 
free from iron. The paper maker can not use the material if it has 
iron in it, as it will spot his paper. Sulphate of alumina combined 
with potash forms the old-fashioned alum. It is not very easily 
soluble and crystallizes easily, thus allowing it to be purified and sep- 
arated from the more soluble and less easily crystallizing impurities. 

As the progress of manufacturing went on it was found possible to 
make sulphate of alumina directly froui bauxite (an alumina mineral), 
and by certain methods of manipulation in the manufacture to free it 
from iron. The paper maker instead of using the real alum now uses 
sulphate of alumina. In the manufacture of baking powder alum, in 
the proper sense of the word, is not used. Alum contains sulphate of 
alumina and sulphate of potash, or other alkali, with a certain amount 
of water. If it is heated there is obtained a mixture of sulphate of 
alumina and sulphate of an alkali, the sulphate of alumina being usually 
slightly basic. The "alum" used in baking powder generally contains 
a little more sulphate of soda than a true soda alum would contain, 
so we are not quite right when we say "alum" baking powder. If a 
paper maker orders alum, he gets sulphate of alumina ; if a drug store 
orders it, it gets potash alum ; if a baking-powder establishment orders 
alum, it gets c. t. s., or cream of tartar substitute, a calcined mixture 
of sulphate of alumina and sulphate of soda. 

Senator Harris. I wish you would state whether all the manufac- 
turers of what is called alum baking powder use a fornuila, or use 
certain chemicals which produce precisely the same chemical reaction. 

Dr. Austen. Very closely, sir, with the exception that some are 
stronger than others. There are only a few makers of this substance 
in the country. C. t. s. is made practically, I think, by three very 
large chemical manufacturers. They get formulas with, say, so much 
c, t. s., so much bicarbonate of soda, so much starch or flour. With 
phosphate they use so much alum, so much acid phosphate of lime, 
and so much bicarbonate of soda. All that the manufacturers do is to 
put it into the mixing machinery. 

Of some of these powders one teasj)Oonful is used; of others, two. 
In general, the idea of an alum baking powder is economy. It can be 
sold very cheaply. In Georgia a baking powder, made by Morehouse 
& Co., of Savannah, is sold for 10 cents, of which one teaspoonful 
raises a quart of flour. An amount of high-grade cream of tartar to 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 543 

give the same degree of gas efficiency would cost nearly $2. The 
economic aspect is a very large one to the people. It would make a 
difference in the cost of living running up into the millions. I figured 
it out that it would make a difference in Georgia of over $3,000,000 a 
year. That is the reason why this manufacture has grown up and has 
been so persistent in holding out despite the continual warfare waged 
against it by rival manufacturers of other kinds of baking powders. 

Senator iL-xREis. The letters "c. t. s." mean cream of tartar substi- 
tute? 

Pr. Austen. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. It is a preparation which is chemically a form of 
alum ? 

Dr. Austen. Yes, sir. 

Senator Harris. And is used as a substitute for cream of tartar ? 

Dr. Austen. Yes; and gauged to evolve gas with bicarbonate of 
soda at the same rate that cream of tartar would do under the same 
conditions of moisture and temperature. 

Senator Harris. It seems to me there is another element of uncer- 
tainty in arriving at the physiological effects by experiment, because 
of the more or less intelligent or unintelligent preparation of the 
bread itself? 

Dr. Austen. Yes; but you may say that any food product prepared 
unintelligently is liable to produce disturbance. 

Senator Harris. There is the difficulty in separating the effects of 
the articles used from the effects of the bread itself, owing to its being 
made improperly. 

Dr. Austen. Of course you must take the practical side of the mat- 
ter. As a matter of fact the average bread throughout the country is 
pretty fairly made. You do get bad biscuits once in a while. Every- 
one knows what it is to get a new cook, but the average food product 
made in the household is pretty well made, because after all it is an 
easy matter. One or more teaspoonf uls of baking powder to a quart 
of flour are taken. If the bread is not right people will not eat it. 
Consequently you do not get much physiological effect at large from 
bad bread. The master of the house objects, and the cook is dis- 
charged. It is pretty hard to get people to eat badly prepared bread 
or any other food product. 

Senator Harris. We do eat a great amount of bad food. 

Dr. Austen. Due to undercooking or overcooking; but we do not 
eat such a large amount of badly prepared bread. I think bread and 
cake and so on are fairly well made. Of course in an experiment of 
this kind, if we were to have imperfect formation of bread, the results 
from that would not be new. We would be able to trace them as 
results. The}^ would be disturbances of quite a different nature. 

The Chairman. Dr. Wiley, do you wish to ask any questions? 

Dr. Wiley, No, sir. 



STATEMENT OF ARTHUR T. SHAND. 

The Chairman. I told you, Mr. Shand, that if you would present 
an affidavit sworn to I would consider it the same as if you or your 
people came before the committee. 

Mr. Shand. Yes; and gave testimony. 



544 ADULTEEATIOlSr OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The Chairman. So far as concerns the owners and manufacturers of 
the products of Arthur Guinness Son & Co, , Limited. 

Mr. Shand. That is what I understood, and I now present the 
statement: 

UNITED STATES SENATE — SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON MANUFACTURES. 

Statement of Arthur Guinness Sonc& Co., Limited, of St. James Gate, 
Duhlin, for the consideration of the Special Committee on 3fanufac- 
tures appointed by the United States Senate, which statement is veri- 
fied hy the declaration of Christopher D'lgges La Touche, mana^imjg 
director of the company, hereto attached, and is respectfully submitted, 
pursuant to the suhpmna issued by the said committee to Arthur T. 
Shand, of Jf!2 Beaver street. New York, the American representati/oe 
of the said Arthur Guinness So7i c& Co. , Limited. 

We would submit for the information of your committee the accom- 
panying statement, and in doing so we have addressed ourselves more 
especially to the following questions: 

1. Whether it is possible to brew for exportation stout which will 
remain sound and palatable for a prolonged period without the use of 
antiseptics although exposed to a wide range of temperatures ? 

2. Can stout be brewed from defective materials ? 

In answer to the first of these questions, viz, Is it possible to brew 
for exportation stout which will remain sound and palatable for a pro- 
longed period without the use of antiseptics although exposed to a wide 
range of temperatures, we would unhesitatingly answer that it is, pro- 
vided that such stout is brewed from sound materials, at a sufficienly 
high gravity, thoroughly fermented, and sufficiently hopped. 

As to the second question, viz, Can stout be brewed from defective 
materials, we are of opinion that stout brewed from defective materials 
must suffer in flavor and stability. 

In support of the answers which we have given to the foregoing 
questions we give for the information of your committee details of 
some special features of our manufacture, and the results obtained 
thereby. Pure beer is a liquor prepared by steeping malt with hot 
water, thereby effecting the chemical change of the constituents of 
malt into soluble products; the infusion thus produced is then boiled 
with hops and subsequently fermented with yeast either on the high 
or low system of fermentation. 

The liquor resulting from this process consists of water, alcohol, 
extractive principles of hops, nitrogenous and mineral matters, and a 
considerable amount of carbohydrates derived from malt in an assimi- 
lable form. 

The comparative excellence of beers depends on the quality of the 
materials, the purity and suitability of the water, the skill and clean- 
liness employed in their manufacture, the perfection of the machinery, 
and lastly the kind of yeast used for fermenting the extract of malt. 

We are enabled to testify as to the correctness of the foregoing 
statement, as the result of accumulated experience in the brewing of 
Guinness's stout, which extends over a period of considerably more 
than a century. 

The properties of Guinness stout are the result of strict conformity 
to the principles which we have hereinbefore laid down. 

The only materials used in the manufacture of Guinness stout are 
malt, hops, and water, no foreign matter, even for the purpose of col- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 545 

oring the stout, being allowed to l)o introduced into the manufacture. 
Our stout brewed for exportation is manufactured with a larger per- 
centage of hops than that brewed for the home market and to this is 
due to some extent its greater stability and agreeable flavor. The 
stout so brewed is submitted to a careful and prolonged process of 
maturing in large bulk vats at St, James Gate brewery, some of these 
vats containing as nmch as 80,000 gallons. The stout during the period 
of storage, which period varies from one to two years, matures slowly 
and steadily, acquiring the additional flavor and aroma, and this proc- 
ess of maturing also controls the ultimate condition of the stout in 
bulk and bottle. 

In our opinion the effect produced by the natural maturing process 
could not be obtained by any artiticial means, and although the process 
indicated represents a very large expense, yet the result, in our opinion, 
fully justifies the expenditure. 

We have had cases in which Guinness stout supplied from the brew- 
ery has again reached our hands from America and Australia after a 
lapse of four years, and when examined has left nothing to be desired 
in the character and condition of the beer either as a tonic or a beverage. 

So far as the materials used by us, viz, malt, hops, and water, are 
concerned, each form the subject in a separate department of the brew- 
ery of careful investigation and daily examination. 

The malt used is all made from high-class barley, selected by expert 
buyers, and is the best that can be obtained for the purpose of stout 
brewing. The deliveries of malt at the brewery are checked both by 
experts and by chemical analysis, all malt being rejected which has, 
among others, any of the following defects: 

1. Excess of moisture, which causes an undue formation of lactic 
acid in the stout. 

2. Mold, produced by faulty working in the malt house, which 
causes unsoundness and disagreeable flavor. 

3. Insufficient modification during the malting process. 

4. Insufiicient curing, resulting in rawness of flavor. 

The unusually strict examination to which we submit our malt is due 
to our believing that a sound stout can not be brewed from defective 
malt. 

The hops used represent the finest English and American growths; 
no hops in any way deteriorated are employed. In this connection it 
may be interesting to note that our use of American hops has largely 
increased of recent years, the quality of some years' growths being very 
fine. 

The water used in our brewery is a pure water, free from contami- 
nation with sewage or decomposed animal matter. It is remarkably 
free from bacterial life. The composition of the water is constantly 
and regularly ascertained. 

The yeast used to ferment the stout is our own yeast, produced by 
ourselves in the brewery. On this depends, to a great extent, the 
character of the fermentation and resulting product. 

The high fermentation system is used. 

The.clarifying process is effected by means of isinglass. 

Generally with reference to Guinness stout we may mention the 
following particulars: 

1. The original gravity of the stout, i. e., the specific gravity of the 
extract of malt before it is fermented, is 1072 to 1074. 
FP 35 



546 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

2. It is constant in its composition, the greatest care being taken to 
insure uniformity of production. This uniformity is checked both by 
the excise officials and by ourselves. When on the market the stout 
brewed for exportation contains, either in bulk or in bottle, about 6.1 
per cent absolute alcohol by weight and 6 per cent solid matter. 

3. As regards antiseptics, we would say at once that neither we nor 
our bottlers use any, considering same unnecessary if the stout is skill- 
fully brewed of sound materials and with rigorous regard to cleanli- 
ness. We are opposed to the secret and uncontrolled use of antisep- 
tics to foods and beverages. Such antiseptics are often drugs, and we 
believe that the bulk of the credited evidence on the physiological 
effects of common antiseptics tends to prove that their use is preju- 
dicial to the consumer. 

4. Guinness stout during the whole process of its manufacture is 
under the supervision of Government officials, and their returns will 
show the correctness of our statements, and that no substitutes of any 
kind for malt are used. We are, and always have been, opposed to 
their use when the prime object is to brew a stout of the highest 
quality. 

Excise duty is charged daily on the gravity of the wort from which 
the beer is brewed. The charge is based on the barrel of 36 imperial 
gallons at a standard gravity of 1055, a deduction of 6 per cent being 
allowed for waste. The average payment of beer duty per day is about 
110,000. 

Guinness stout for exportation being brewed at a gravity of 1073, 
a rebate is allowed to bottlers exporting to foreign countries, on the 
production of a guaranty by us, verified by the excise officials, that 
the stout supplied is of that gravity. 

In conclusion, we have endeavored to show that, as a result of our 
experience, beer brewed under the conditions laid down by us will keep 
in sound and palatable condition for an unlimited period without the 
use of antiseptics; and we are satisfied that our stout, if brewed from 
materials in any way faulty, would not be a satisfactory or reliable 
article. 

At the same time it will be seen that the converse would prove 
equally true, viz: That malt liquors which contain little or no alcohol 
due to fermentation, and little or no hop extract, would require the 
introduction of some preservative element to enable them to remain 
palatable and withstand severe atmospherical and climatic conditions. 

Chkistopher Digges La Touche, 
Managing Director Arthur Guimness^ Son c& 6b., Limited. 

CoNSUIiATE OF THE UnITED StATES OF AMERICA, 

Dvhlin^ Ireland. 

Be it remembered, that on this 9th day of December, A. D. 1899, 
before me, Joshua Wilbour, consul of the United States for Dublin, 
Ireland, and the dependencies thereof, personally appeared Christopher 
Digges La Touche, the managing director of Arthur Guinness' Son & 
Co., Limited, Dublin, personally known to me to be the same individ- 
ual described in and who executed the annexed instrument. He acknowl- 
edged to me that he executed the same of his own free act and deed 
and for the uses and purposes therein set forth. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 547 

seal of this consulate at Dublin, Ireland this day and year last above 
written. 

[seal.] Joshua Wilbour, 

United States Consul. 
County and City of Dublin, to wit: 

I, Christopher Digges La Touche, aged 30 years and upward, man- 
aging director of Messrs. Arthur Guinness' Son & Co., Limited, do 
solemnly and sincerely declare as follows: 

(1) I have read the statement hereto attached submitted by the said 
Arthur Guinness' Son & Co., Limited, for the consideration of the 
special committee on manufactures appointed by the United States 
Senate, and 1 say that the contents thereof are true to the best of my 
knowledge, information, and belief. 

Christopher Digges La Touche, 
Managing Director Arthur Guinness^ Son c& Co., Limited. 

The Chairman. Are there any suggestions that you wish to make ? 
Do you want to be sworn as a witness % 

Mr. Shand. No, because I am not a practical man. 

The Chairman. You are not a brewer? 

Mr. Shand. No, sir. Everything they would have said had they 
been here is embodied in the statement. 

The Chairman. Very well. 

Mr. Shand. I know that the statement was prepared after consulta- 
tion with the brewer and the analyst, and they could not tell you any 
more if they came here. 

The Chairman. Where are these articles manufactured? 

Mr. Shand. In Dublin. 

Dr. Wiley. You refer to stout? 

Mr. Shand. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. And they are imported into this country? 

Mr. Shand. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. How are they imported ? 

Mr. Shand. In bulk in hogsheads for bottling purposes in this 
country, but by far the greater portion of it is bottled in Dublin, Liv- 
erpool, or London. 

The Chairman. When you bottle it 

Mr. Shand. We do not bottle it. 

The Chairman. If genuine Guinness stout is bottled at all in this 
country it is bottled by your customers and not by yourself? 

Mr. Shand. Yes, sir. We have only one concern in the United 
States. That is Thomas McMullen & Co, We are most careful to 
whom we give it for bottling purposes. We issue labels, which are 
printed by ourselves, for exactly the quantity that we deliver to the 
customer. We insist on their using those labels. 

The Chairman. For instance, without forging your label they could 
not bottle 1,000 cases if you sent over only 500 cases. 

Mr. Shand. No, sir. 

The Chairman. They use your labels because they use your stout? 

Mr. Shand. Yes, sir; that is the reason; and we will not sell them 
our stout unless they agree (there is a regular form of agreement) that 
they will use our label, and that they will affix the label to each bottle 
they put up, and we will not sell to anyone who bottles any other 
black beer. It must be Guinness stout alone. 

At 12 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m. the committee adjourned. 



548 adulteeation of food peoducts. 

Committee on Manufactures, 

United States Senate, 
Washington^ D. (7., January 13^ 1900. 
The subcommittee met at 10 a. m. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. C. PRUYN STRINGFIELD. 

Dr. C. Pruyn Stringfield, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Dr. Stringfield. 1 am consulting physician at the Chicago Baptist 
Hospital. 

The Chairman. I think that when you were examined before, you 
stated the positions that you had held, but I wanted to add something 
to the testimony you have already given, because of a question which 
has come up before our committee within the past few days. 1 have 
been requested to call some scientific gentlemen and ask them some 
questions in regard to the food product known as baking powder. I 
would like you to state for the benefit of the committee what your 
opinion is in regard to the two general classes of baking powders. But 
before putting that question specifically to you, I should like to have 
on the record something further as to the positions that you have held. 
In the first place. Doctor, please state from what school you were 
graduated. 

Dr. Stringfield. The medical department of the Northwestern 
University. I attended in fact at the Chicago Medical College, but it 
was controlled by the Northwestern University. I had a chair for five 
and a half years in that medical school. 

The Chairman. What chair did you occupy ? 

Dr. Stringfield. 1 was assistant to the chair of the principles and 
practice of surgery. But while thus an assistant I did all the surgical 
work, conducted the clinic, and performed all the operations. 

The Chairman. And have you a speciality now? 

Dr. Stringfield. Yes; my specialty is diseases of the stomach or 
diseases of the digestive tract. 

The Chairman. With what institution have you been connected ? 

Dr. Stringfield. I have been connected with the Mercy Hospital; 
and have been connected with the health department of the city of 
Chicago. 1 have also been connected in a professional capacity with 
the militia. I am the physician of the Grand Pacific Hotel in Chicago; 
but my most important connection from a professional point of view 
is that with the Baptist Hospital, of which I am consulting physician. 

The Chairman. Let me now ask you to give the committee the ben- 
efit of your opinion in regard to the two general classes of baking 
powder. 

Dr. Stringfield. You mean the alum and the tartrate baking 
powders ? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Dr. Stringfield. It is known by everybody familiar with chemis- 
try and with the digestive functions that alum is a positive irritant, 
arid is poisonous; it is an irritant poison — that is the best way to state 
it. Do you wish me to continue, or will you propound questions? 

The Chairman. I should like you to state your opinion fully. 

Dr. Stringfield. Alum is a double sulphate of aluminum and soda, 
aluminum being the acid and soda the base. Its composition is one of 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 549 

the acid and two of the soda. Alum should never be used internally. 
It is used locally as an astringent, but not continuously. It is an irri- 
tant poison, cumulative in its effects. It first acts as an astringent and 
then an irritant, so that it may be termed an astringent irritant. It 
impairs nutrition, retards digestion both in the stomach and intestines, 
causing dyspepsia, indigestion, and constipation, with their resulting 
evils. 

Alum also acts as a positive irritant to the kidneys, through which 
it is excreted. It undergoes a change in the stomach, forming a phos- 
phate or hydrate of aluminum, and also liberates carbonic acid gas in 
the stomach. It interferes with the secretion of the gastric juices by 
its decomposition, forming hydrates or phosphates, and these are 
moderately soluble in the gastric juices. 

In my opinion alum is one of the common causes of dyspepsia and 
indigestion. 

My special field of practice has been diseases of the digestive tract, 
and from m}^ observation I have concluded that the great majority of 
cases of difficulty with that tract might be traced to the white bread 
and the quick hot breads that are made with baking powder. 

Alum is used commonly to whiten bread, by the bakers principally, 
to give it a better appearance; but its use daily and continuously is 
without question not alone harmful, but positively poisonous. It has 
been known to cause death. I do not mean to say that death was 
caused by eating bread made with alum; what I mean is that alum 
itself has been known to cause death. 

The Chairman. I do not think of any further questions to propound 
to you. I did desire to have your opinion with reference to'these 
baking powders in addition to the evidence you had already given. 

Dr. Stringfield. There should certainly be positive legislation on 
that matter, in the interest of the public health; not merely legisla- 
tion, but national legislation. I understand that in England there has 
been such legislation passed. 

The Chairman. I have been so informed, but do not know how true 
that is. 

Dr. Stringfield. I have been so informed, and if such legislation 
has not been enacted it ought to be, and it will be sooner or later. 

The Chairman. The committee are much obliged to you for your 
attendance. I believe there is nothing further that I desire to ask. 

The subcommittee adjourned until Wednesday, January IT, at 10 
o'clock a. m. 



Committee on Manufactures, 

United States Senate, 
Washington^ D. 6*1, January 17^ 1900. 
The committee met at 10 a. m. 
Present: Senators Mason (chairman) and Foster. 

TESTIMONY OF PROF. JOHN WILLIAM MALLET. 

Prof. John William Mallet sworn and examined: 
The Chairman. Please state your profession. 

Professor Mallet. I am professor of chemistry in the University 
of Virginia. 



550 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

The Chairman. You might state, if you please, for the purposes of 
the record, where jou obtained your training. 

Professor Mallet. Chiefly at the University of Gottingen, in Ger- 
many. 

The Chairman. How long have you held the position which you 
now occupy ? 

Professor Mallet. I have occupied that position since 1868, with 
the exception of two sessions, when I lectured elsewhere. 

The Chairman. Without stating all of the scientific societies with 
which you are or have been connected, you might, if you please, state 
some of those societies. 

Professor Mallet. I am fellow of the Royal Society of London; 
member of the Chemical Society of this country (the American) ; mem- 
ber of the Chemical Society of Paris, France, and of the English and 
German societies (London and Berlin). Those are, perhaps, the most 
pertinent to be given in reply to your question. 

The Chairman. In the course of your professional duties have you 
had occasion to take up the matter of food adulteration ? 

Professor Mallet. To a considerable extent. 

The Chairman. By the resolution of the Senate, under which this 
committee are now operating, we are directed to ascertain, first, what 
foods are sold to the public that are deleterious to the public health, 
and second, what foods are sold that are adulterated or sophisticated, 
in a manner not necessarily deleterious to the public health but in 
fraud of the consumer. Taking first the first branch of the resolu- 
tion : Has your course of study and your practical experience brought 
you in connection with any foods that you consider deleterious to the 
public health ? 

Professor Mallet. Yes; from time to time cases occur in which 
distinctly deleterious substances are added to food preparations. Still 
there has been a good deal of exaggeration on that subject. There are 
a great many cases that have been made subjects of newspaper com- 
ment for which there has been not so much foundation as the com- 
ments indicated; but there undoubtedly are such cases. 

The Chairman. Will you be good enough to name some of those 
that you have had occasion to analyze, that have come within your 
knowledge? 

Professor Mallet. The one to which your telegram refers has 
received from me more extended attention perhaps than any others, 
namely, the use of alum in baking powders. I published a paper on 
that subject and as your telegram indicated that, I brought a copy of 
it with me. 

The Chairman. That question came up particularly in connection 
with the testimony of, I think, Dr. Austen ; and it was at the request 
of someone who wished all sides of the question to be heard that I 
telegraphed to you, just as the gentlemen now present have come in 
order to testify as to their products. Therefore your attention was 
directed to that subject in the telegram. I should be very glad if you 
would give the committee the benefit of your opinion on that subject. 

Professor Mallet. You have mentioned that these gentlemen here 
are representing particular products. You understand that I do not 
represent any manufacturer whatever. 

The Chairman. I understand perfectly that you are here as a dis- 
interested witness. You are not interested in the manufacture or sale 
of any baking powder, for instance ? 



ADULTERATIOIS' OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 551 

Professor Mallet. No. 

The Chairman. Nor in the wine that these other gentlemen present 
represent ? 

Professor Mallet. No. 

The Chairman. Your position in the university and your studies 
and training, your experience and your work as a professional man 
have put you in a position to be called as an expert, and the committee 
are very glad to avail themselves of your opinion, and I desire to say 
that we are indebted to you for your attendance here and shall be very 
glad to have your opinion upon this matter of baking powders. 

Professor Mallet. Perhaps it will be best for me to state in general 
terms what my opinion is. 

It is pretty generally conceded, I think, that alum in itself is an 
unwholesome substance; in fact, text- books on medical jurisprudence, 
for instance, class it as a poison. It is not a virulent poison in the 
sense that arsenic or corrosive sublimate are poisons — that is, it is not 
fatal in small doses, but that it is unwholesome taken into the system 
is, I think, practically conceded by everybody. 

The use of alum along with bicarbonate of soda in baking powders 
grew up in this country some twenty or twenty-five years ago and has 
become a very largely practiced industry, mainly in consequence of 
two facts: First, that the alum baking powders make very pretty look- 
ing bread ; they produce the efiect of lightening the bread, without 
interference with its color when properly manufactured; and, secondly, 
that it is a very cheap material. On the other hand as soon as its use 
became known there was very extended complaint made that alum, an 
injurious substance, was being introduced into food preparations. 

The answer which the manufacturers gave to this complaint is that 
the alum does not remain as alum in the bread, that it acts on the 
bicarbonate of soda and is intended to act upon it, giving off carbonic 
acid gas, which lightens the bread or renders it porous, and leaves 
behind products of the decomposition of alum, of which the two 
principal substances are hydroxide of aluminum and phosphate of 
aluminum. 

As to the latter I ought to say that the phosphate of aluminum is 
due to one of two causes — either the existence of phosphates in flour, 
which are always present in small amount and will produce a minute 
amount of phosphate of aluminum, or the addition of phosphate of 
calcium, which has been used to produce the same effect. Some 6 or 
6 per cent or perhaps more is very commonl)^ added to the alum bak- 
ing powders and that leaves some aluminum present as phosphate. 

The claim of the manufacturers was that these two substances, 
hydroxide of aluminum and phosphate of aluminum, and also sulphate 
of sodium, which is produced at the same time, are unobjectionable, 
although the alum, if it remained unchanged, would have been harmful. 

The present state of our knowledge, it seems to me, is this: We have 
first to encounter in the use of alum in baking powder the danger of 
imperfect manufacture. If either the alum or the soda is not weighed 
out in proper proportion, an excess of alum being used, there will not 
be enough soda to decompose all the alum, and there will be some alum 
left in the bread after being made. That might seem to be a very 
trifling objection, because it is so easy to weigh a thing accurately, 
and I do not suppose there is much danger of that occurring on the 
part of the larger manufacturers; but the simplicity and cheapness of 
the manufacture is such that a multitude of alum baking powders are 



552 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

being put upon the market, some of them made in a very small way, 
and by people practically altogether ignorant of chemistry. 

I have had one or two instances fall under my own observation of 
people who can hardly be classed as manufacturers in the larger sense 
of the term who have taken up that manufacture in quite a small way, 
who have started a brand of their own, and in whose care, even as to 
weighing, I should not feel much confidence. 

In the next place, assuming the weighing to be right, we have the 
risk of imperfect mixture. You may locally have an excess of alum 
in one part and an excess of soda in another, and in such case, if there 
were an imperfect mixture, you would have to encounter in the third 
place an imperfect mixture of the baking powder with the flour on 
the part of the cook. 

If you assume that some parts of the baking powder contain an 
excess of alum, and those parts are not properly mixed with the flour, 
you would have in perhaps a single loaf more alum than belonged to 
the particular mixture. So that I do not think it can be altogether 
unworthy of consideration — the possibility that alum itself, admitted 
on all hands to be injurious, would remain in the bread. 

Senator Foster. That is owing to the danger of the matters being 
improperly mixed? 

Professor Mallet. Owing to either imperfect weighing, or imperfect 
mixing, or, in the third place, an imperfect mixture of the flour by the 
cook. 

Disposing of that, the more important question a great deal is the 
one I referred to just now, namely, assuming that the powder is prop- 
erly mixed, whether the substances that remain in the bread are or 
are not harmful. That is the one that I undertook to examine from a 
purely scientific point of view, and I published a paper on the subject 
in one of the London scientific journals. I will leave a copy of that 
with you. 

Senator Foster. Is alum mixed with all baking powder ? 

Professor Mallet. No. 

Senator Foster. With the Royal Baking Powder, for instance ? 

Professor Mallet. No, sir; that is made with cream of tartar. 

Senator Foster. No alum at all ? 

Professor Mallet. No. There are four classes of baking powder 
in use in the United States. First, the cream of tartar powders, 
in which nothing but cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, and starch 
is used. 

Senator Foster. That is the more expensive ? 

Professor Mallet. Yes. Starch is added, however, merely to keep 
it dry. In the second place, there are powders made with alum, bicar- 
bonate of soda, and starch only. In the next place, there are some 
made with acid phosphate of calcium, bicarbonate of soda, and starch 
only; and, fourthly, some (and these most largel}^) made with ahim, 
bicarbonate of soda, some calcium acid phosphate, and starch. They 
are more generally spoken of as cream of tartar powders straight; 
then there is the alum powder straight, and the phosphate powder 
straight, and the alum-phosphate powder. 

My general conclusions from the experiments I made were these: 
I first experimented with baking powders containing alum, many dif- 
ferent brands, to which water was added to ascertain whether any of 
the aluminum remained in soluble form. I found that there was a 



ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 553 

small proportion of the aluminum in soluble form after the action. I 
then experimented with an artificial gastric juice — placing it under 
the conditions of digestion — a solution of dilute hydrochloric acid and 
pepsin. On the one hand I found that some of the aluminum hydrox- 
ide or phosphate passed into solution, and on the other hand some of 
the pepsin was coagulated. 

1 then experimented on myself, making some 24 or 25 experiments. 
Taking h3"droxide of aluminum and phosphate of aluminum — taking 
the two substances into which the aluminum of the alum was con- 
verted — I found that whenever the dose was not less than, I think, 20 
grains of the hydroxide of aluminum, there was distinct indications 
of indigestion — heaviness and all the common symptoms of indiges- 
tion. It seems to inhibit, as the physiologists say, or interfere with 
digestion. 

Now, pursuing what I was saying a moment ago, the question as to 
the activity or inactivity of these two substances, the hydroxide of 
aluminum and phosphate of aluminum, is manifestly concerned with 
and involves the action not of water only, but of the gastric juice, 
because these are brought into contact with that when actual use is 
made of bread produced with alum baking powders. It is notoriously 
a fact that the gastric juice contains, as the two most active principles, 
hydrochloric acid on the one hand and pepsin or animal ferment on 
the other. 

Now, hydrochloric acid, when brought into contact with either 
hydroxide of aluminum or phosphate of aluminum, will dissolve them, 
and therefore the claim originally made that the substances are inert 
because they are insoluble is not true when, instead of water, they are 
exposed to the action of gastric juice. They are not insoluble in gas- 
tric juice. On the contrary, they are dissolved. And what perhaps 
technically increases the force of the objection is that we must remem- 
ber the presence of the sulphate of sodium, which is formed at the 
same time. If you have sulphate of sodium and chloride of aluminum 
together, sulphate of aluminum would be re-formed to some extent. 
In other words, you reconstitute the alum in the stomach — admitting 
that the alum might cease to be alum in the constitution of the bread, 
it is reconstituted by the action of the gastric juice. The conclusion 
that I have arrived at amounts to a belief in the unwholesomeness of 
alum baking powders habitually used. 

As I have already stated in regard to matters of food adulteration, 
there has been much exaggeration. I do not think it is desirable in 
the matter of corrective legislation that the adulteration of anything 
should be exaggerated. Alum is spoken of by some of the newspa- 
pers of the day as a deadly poison. So far as that might be construed 
to mean a deadly poison in the same sense that corrosive sublimate or 
arsenic is so characterized, I do not believe in it, but on the other hand 
the use of alum is undoubtedly deleterious to health, especially to 
children or ladies, or persons of weak digestion, perhaps more than to 
men in robust health; I think that is undeniable. 

The Chairman. What is the difference between alum and cream of 
tartar ? 

Professor Mallet. Cream of tartar is the bitartrate or acid tartrate 
of potassium obtained from grapes. It is obtained from crude tartar 
or argol, which is the crust formed in casks, and to some extent in 
bottles, in which wine is allowed to undergo the later stages of its f er- 



554 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

mentation. The wine becomes less and less capable of holding the 
tartar in solution, and it forms in crusts. Some of it also is obtained 
from the spent yeast or lees or dregs generally of the wine vats. All 
that comes from the wine-producing countries — the southern countries. 
The Italian, 1 think, is now ranked as among the most important. 
Some little is obtained from the wine industry of this country — not a 
great deal. It is dissolved and recrystallized. It is obtained directly 
from the grape juice, and is nearly pure. 

Alum is made, the greater part of it now, from a mineral called 
beauxite, which is a native hydroxide of aluminum. This is treated 
with sulphuric acid of a certain strength, not the strongest, and to 
that solution sulphate of sodium is added, and the whole is evaporated 
until it sets into a crystalline mass on cooling. It is put into tempo- 
rary boxes, which are afterwards knocked to pieces, and the so-called 
soda alum is taken out. 

The two substances are bought by the manufacturers of baking 
powders. I do not think any of them manufacture the materials for 
themselves. The manufacture of baking powder consists simply in 
their buying the materials and mixing them. 

The Chairman. Do you consider the cream of tartar powders dele- 
terious to health ? 

Professor Mallet. No, sir; I have never investigated it directly 
myself, but I have no reason to believe that it is unwholesome. The 
tartrates in passing through the stomach become changed into car- 
bonates. 

Senator Foster. So that the continuous using of them is not dele- 
terious ? 

Professor Mallet. I do not know of any evidence of its being so. 
I can imagine a case in which a large amount of cream of tartar might 
be injurious by rendering the urine alkaline and causing precipitation 
of the earthy phosphates. 

On the other hand, many people with a tendency to uric-acid deposi- 
tion from the urine are benefited by such alkaline character being 
produced. The extensive use of carbonate of lithia water is based 
largely on the idea of its being thus beneficial. 

The Chairman. Take the question of the use of preservatives in 
foods. Have you analyzed any foods that contained preservatives ? 

Professor Mallet. Yes; I have analyzed a good many specimens 
of food, but I have not examined the question of the wholesomeness or 
unwholesomeness of substances added as preservatives so minutely as 
I have the alum question. 

I think some preservatives are undoubtedly dangerous, that being 
sufficiently evidenced by the investigations made abroad and the legis- 
lation based upon it. The prohibition of the use of boracic acid or 
salicylic acid, for instance, by the German and French Governments 
leads me to believe that there must be substantial evidence that they 
are unwholesome, and, indeed, from my knowledge of the bad efi'ects 
of some of them, especially salicylic acid, I should be sorry myself to 
habitually use any appreciable quantity of it. Of course in all these 
questions of the injurious effect of the particular substances added to 
food you have to take into account two things — the inherent quality 
of the substance and the quantity in which it is used. 

Eecurring for a moment, merely for the sake of illustration, to the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 555 

matter of aluni, I have devoted a good deal of attention to its use for the 
clarification of water. I have been, since August last, carrjdng on a 
series of experiments for the city of Richmond, Va., with regard to 
the clarification of water, the city water being turbid. I am to be in 
Richmond the day after to-morrow to report on that subject. I want, 
if possible, to get the city council to substitute salts of iron for salts 
of aluminum. Alum, even in a minute amount, in drinking water is 
objectionable, while salts of iron are not. In the first place, if any trace 
of iron remains in the water — iron is a necessary constituent of the 
blood, and there is no possible objection to a minute amount remaining 
in water if it should remain; and in the second place it is a great deal 
easier to detect than aluminum. 

I mention that because the question is somewhat different from the 
matter of alum in baking powder on account of the very small quan- 
tity used — one or two grains (often but a fraction of a grain) to a gal- 
lon of water, which is intended to be all precipitated. Even if all of 
this remains in the water the amount is, of course, much less than in 
the baking powder, as two teaspoonfuls of baking powder are com- 
monly used to a quart of flour. 

If you take any substance and dilute it sufficiently you can render it 
less harmful. Arsenic diluted over and over again until there is not 
more than one part in hundreds of millions I do not suppose anybody 
would be appreciably affected by swallowing. 

On the other hand, a great many substances not commonly ".ounted 
as poisons are capable of producing very bad effects if used in quite 
large amounts. Common salt is not ranked as a poison and is a con- 
stituent of the body, but if you were to swallow 4 or 5 ounces of that 
at a time it would produce very bad effects. So that, as I have said, 
both quantity and quality are to be taken into account. 

In regard to baking powder, I think we are in a position to say that 
no serious detriment is to be looked for in any one piece of bread, but, 
on the other hand, deleterious effects are to be looked for from the 
habitual use of the bread. 

The question of alum in water turns on the same idea, but the amount 
is smaller, and it is a more delicate question as to whether anybodj'' 
would be injured by it. I should myself hesitate to use water treated 
with alum in the proportion, perhaps, in which it is generally used, 
and I am about to recommend to the council that they avoid it. 

Senator Foster. In these alum baking powders do the labels show 
what the ingredients are — what makes up the baking powder ? 

Professor Mallet. I have never seen one myself that did. I have 
heard it stated that some of them do, but I have also heard it asserted 
(I am not speaking now from my own knowledge, only from hearsay) 
that they do so only in States wheie the law compels them to do so. 

The Chairman. We have had a great many sample boxes before the 
committee, marked with large letters "Cream of tartar baking pow- 
der," and in small letters the words "just as good as." 

Professor Mallet. The fact that there is a popular prejudice against 
the use of alum is evident from the fact that, although for a quarter of 
a century alum baking powders have been on the market, and although 
they cost but about one-fourth as much as the cream of tartar pow- 
ders, the fact that the cream of tartar powders continue to be sold at 
a fourfold price, and largely sold, is evidence that they are preferred. 



556 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The average price of the alum powder is 10 or 15 cents a pound; the 
price of the cream of tartar powder, so far as I know, varies from 45 
to 50 cents. In the smaller places I think the prices may be set down 
as 15 and 50, respectively. In other places, where prices are more 
closely noticed, I suppose 10 cents and 40 cents. 

The Chairman. What is salicylic acid? 

Professor Mall,et. It is now almost universally made from carbolic 
acid of coal tar. It was originally made from salicin, from the bark 
of the willow. 

Senator Foster. Physicians prescribe it for rheumatism? 

Professor Mallet. Yes, it is largely used for that and with great 
advantage. But it is distinctly a medicinal agent. 

You referred, Mr. Chairman, to a class of preparations which ought 
to receive consideration in legislation, preparations in which there is 
no distinctly deleterious matter, but a fraud is committed. 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Professor Mallet. It has always seemed to me that in such cases 
the consumer, the purchaser, is entitled to know what he buys. There 
may be nothing unwholesome in the addition or substitution, but it 
constitutes a fraud unless known to the consumer. There has been 
an immense amount of discussion about oleomargarine. It is a good 
and wholesome food, and in some cases, as of long sea voyages, it is 
used preferably to butter, but still it should not be called butter, or 
sold as such. 

There was an outcry some years ago about glucose made from starch. 
Glucose is harmless in itself and, in fact, ordinary cane sugar if taken 
into the stomach is converted into glucose — into two kinds of glucose — 
by the action of the digestive fluid. But if a man sells glucose as cane 
sugar molasses 

The Chairman. Or if he sells glucose for honey, or for maple sirup ? 

Professor Mallet. Yes; that is a fraud. There are a number of 
manufactured products that fall under that head. 

The Chairman. You believe that it would be good ethics to say to 
a manufacturer that he must mark his goods for what they are? 

Professor Mallet. Yes. 

The Chairman. And not sell glucose for honey, or oleomargarine 
for butter? 

Professor Mallet. Precisely. 

The Chairman. And if he is selling jfiUed cheese it ought to be so 
marked? Last year, on the recommendation of this committee, the 
Senate passed a bill known as the flour bill. We found that flour was 
adulterated not only by starch, one of the products of the glucose fac- 
tory, but with terixL alba (white earth), sometimies to as high an extent 
as 12 per cent. 

Senator Foster. Is that possible ? 

The Chairman. Yes. (To Professor Mallet.) You think, Professor, 
that things ought to be sold for what they are, and ought to be prop- 
erly marked? 

Professor Mallet. It seems to me so. A man who buys flour 
expects to get ground wheat, and he is entitled to get what he means 
to buy and actually orders. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 557 

The following is the paper of Professor Mallet, referred to in his 
testimony: 

EXPERIMENTS UPON ALUM BAKING POWDERS, AND THE EFFECTS UPON 
DIGESTION OF THE RESIDUES LEFT THEREFROM IN BREAD. 

By Prof. J. W. Mallet, University of Virginia. 
[Reprinted from the London Chemical News, Nos. 1515 and 1516.] 

It has been almost universally conceded that alum itself, when added 
singly to bread or other food, is positively injurious to health, and 
that its use, even in the small proportion sometimes employed to 
improve the appearance of bread made from unsound or inferior flour, 
must be regarded as reprehensible. But since the extensive introduc- 
tion in the United States of baking powders made with alum and 
bicarbonate of soda, there has been much dispute as to the harmless- 
ness or harmfulness of the substances which are left in bread made 
with such powders after the mutual reaction of their constituents and 
the completion of the baking process. 

It has been claimed by those who advocate the use of cheap baking 
powders made with alum as one of the ingredients that as soon as the 
mixture of alum (usually first deprived by heating of the whole or 
much the greater part of its water of crystallization — so-called ""burnt 
alum ") and bicarbonate of soda is moistened, as in working it up with 
flour and water to form dough or '' sponge," the aluminum sulphate is 
decomposed, sodium sulphate being formed, with which there also 
remains sulphate of ammonium or potassium, as ammonia or potash 
alum has been used, and the aluminum assumes the form of aluminum 
hydroxide, insoluble in water, and therefore supposed to be inert and 
harmless in the stomach and alimentary canal. It has been noticed 
that the aluminum is also partly converted into phosphate in presence 
of the phosphates naturally occurring in flour, and this has been also 
taken to be insoluble and inert. It has been further claimed that at 
the temperature of the baking oven aluminum hydroxide is itself 
decomposed, water being given off, and the highly insoluble aluminum 
oxide, or alumnia, left behind, to be discharged from the intestines as 
might be so much clay or other harmless and indifferent matter. 

On the other hand, it has been asserted by some of those who 
oppose the use of alum in baking powders that the decomposition is 
not, or may not be, complete, and in any case that, as all of the con- 
stituents of the alum remain in the bread, the action upon the human 
system must be essentially the same as if the alum itself remained 
intact. 

In the discussion of the effects on health of the residual substances 
left in bread made with alum baking powders there has been a good 
deal of loose argument, based upon data which were either merel}'^ 
assumed as probable or were too imperfectly supported by actual experi- 
ment. In such experiments as have been hitherto recorded bearing 
directly on the question there are many points left in an indeterminate 
state and calling for further investigation in order to clear them up 
and admit of an impartial conclusion being reached. The following 
work was undertaken with a view to furnish some more exact and sat- 
isfactory evidence of the kind required for the purpose of reaching 
such a conclusion. 



558 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

1. General nature of the hdkin^ jpowders exarnvned. 

Of these there were 27 sarr^ples, representing 17 different brands. 
It was thought desirable to examine, at least in some cases, several 
samples of the same brand, in order to form an idea of the degree of 
uniformity to be counted upon as presented by the product of the same 
manufacturer. 

The samples were in unbroken original packages, as found in ordi- 
nary retail trade. A good deal of difficulty was experienced at first in 
procuring samples of some of the brands, until it was observed that 
not in the larger and better shops of the principal cities, but in smaller 
shops and more obscure streets and towns, were these to be met with, 
indicating sale chiefly among the poorer classes. 

Nearly all of these powders contained as their acid ingredient a 
mixture of alum and acid phosphate of calcium ('•'"superphosphate"). 
In but one case was alum alone found. The alum employed was, for 
the most part, made with ammonium, not potassium sulphate, although 
the latter salt was also met with either singly or mixed with the former. 

All contained as the alkaline ingredient acid carbonate of sodium 
(" bicarbonate of soda"). All contained starch, or, in two or three 
instances, crude flour or starch imperfectly separated from gluten. 

'B. Amount of carbon dioxide {carhonic acid) gas given off on moistening 
each haking powder with water. 

As the object of using a baking powder in making bread is to pro- 
duce porosity by the liberation and expansion of gas bubbles uni- 
formly distributed through the mass, the amount of gas set free from 
a given quantity of the powder by moistening it is obviously an im- 
portant point to be determined. 

This amount was found to be very variable on testing carefully under 
similar conditions the different samples examined. Reducing the vol- 
ume of gas to the same standard temperature and pressure, and allow- 
ing for gas retained in solution by water at the temperature of each 
experiment, the smallest quantity obtained was 36.91 cubic inches 
from 1 avoirdupois ounce of baking powder. The average for all 
the samples was 'o'o cubic inches from the same weight of powder. 
The largest quantity obtained was 99.37 cubic inches. Hence, if the 
average result be taken as the standard of comparison, a departure 
from it of as much as 44 per cent in defect and 50 per cent in excess 
was observed. 

In obtaining these results no account was taken of any ammonium 
carbonate, which is employed, when at all, only in quite small propor- 
tion; this would only assume the gaseous form under the influence of 
the heat in baking. 

The variability observed appears to be partly due to variation in the 
proportion of starch or other indifferent matter used, partly to the 
variable character of the commercial bicarbonate of soda employed 
(containing a larger or smaller proportion of true bicarbonate), partly 
to greater or less purity of the other active ingredients, partly to 
greater or less care in the adjustment to each other in proper propor- 
tions of the acid ingredients and the soda, partly to want of due care 
to insure uniform mixture of the ingredients, but mainly to greater or 
less absorption of moisture from the air in keeping, different degrees 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 559 

of care in drying the materials, and in putting up the powder in pack- 
ages for sale, and no doubt difference in age of some of the samples. 

3. Relation of the vm'iahle product of carbon dioxide gas to the amount 

of powder necessary to he used in making oread. 

Aside from the bearing on the fitness for producing porosity in 
bread, and hence on the money value of a baking powder, of the amount 
of carbonic acid gas given off' by a given quantity of the powder, there 
is to be considered the bearing upon health of the habitual use of more 
or less of the powder to produce the same effect in "raising" bread. 
The directions accompanying most of the brands call for two teaspoon- 
fuls, or in some cases two or three teaspoonfuls, for each quart of 
flour; but it may be safely assumed that in actual practice the bread 
maker will take such a quantity as experience may show to be neces- 
sary to produce the desired "lightness," whether by varying the 
number of spoonfuls recommended, or by changing the extent of filling 
of the spoon, or by discarding this measure in favor of some other the 
use of which is guided by observation of the resulting bread. Hence 
the use of a poor baking powder, or one in poor condition, yielding 
but a small proportion of gas, will lead to the emplo}' ment of a rela- 
tively larger quantity, and will cause a larger amount of residual mat- 
ter to be left in the same quantity of bread, causing increased ill effect 
upon health if such residual matter be injurious at all. 

This point is to be borne in mind in forming any estimate of the 
quantity of residue from a baking powder which any single consumer 
of bread made with it may have to encounter. 

4. Nature of the ingredients in a solution obtained hy treating the several 

baking powders with water ^ so far as excess of acid or alkali dervved 
from the powder is concerned. 

On acting with a definite excess of cold water upon each sample 
examined, and filtering off the solution after escape of gas has ceased, 
leaving on the filter the starch and insoluble mineral products of the 
chemical action which had taken place, the clear liquid was examined 
as to its reaction to test paper, and the excess of acid or alkali was 
carefully determined. 

In nearly all cases the liquid was alkaline, and the excess of alkali 
present was found equivalent to an amount of bicarbonate of soda vary- 
ing from 2.06 to 19.11 grains for each ounce avoirdupois of baking 
powder used. 

In two cases the reaction was acid, and to an extent which, if the 
excess be counted as alum over and above that required to neutralize 
the soda present, would be equivalent in the one case to 0.86 grain, and 
in the other case to 3.14 grains of burnt ammonia alum (or to 1.58 
grains and 5.78 grains of crystallized ammonia alum, respectively) per 
ounce of baking powder. In fact, these two baking powders, being 
made with alum and acid calcium phosphate, the acidity was in part 
due to excess of the latter salt, though a soluble compound of alu- 
minum was also present. 

These results indicate the degree of variation in the adjustment to one 
another of the acid ingredients and the bicarbonate of soda, more or 
less carelessness as to the purity, and therefore real chemical efficiency 



560 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

of the two classes of material, especially, in all probability, as to the 
relative proportions of true bicarbonate of soda, of the neutral car- 
bonate, and of moisture in the soda used, and more or less inaccuracy 
in the weighing out and want of uniformity in the mixing of the 
materials as taken. 

5. Examination of the watery solution from the several haking powders 

as to the presence therein of aluminum and calcium. 

It has been commonly claimed in defense of baking powders made 
with alum that, conceding this salt to be itself injurious, it is decom- 
posed in acting upon the bicarbonate of soda, assuming the alkaline 
material to be used in sufficient amount, hydroxide (or hydrate) of 
aluminum being formed, and that the latter is quite insoluble, and 
hence inert physiologically, so that no harm can result from its pres- 
ence in the digestive organs. It has usually also been assumed that 
the calcium of calcium acid phosphate is rendered insoluble by con- 
version into tribasic phosphate on reaction with a sufficient amount of 
bicarbonate of soda. 

On examining, however, the solutions obtained by acting with water 
on the various baking powders examined, due care being taken to 
remove any silica, to decompose any phosphate present, and to fully iden- 
tify the aluminum and calcium found, it appeared that these solutions 
in all cases (except a single brand, made with alum alone without phos- 
phate, in which there was but a trace of calcium) contained both alumi- 
num and calcium in relatively small quantity, it is true, but in some cases 
to an extent equivalent to as much as 4.19 grains of burnt or 7.72 grains 
of crystalized ammonia alum, and to as much as 3. 15 grains of lime 
per ounce of baking powder. Hence it is not true that the aluminum 
and calciimi are left in a condition wholly insoluble in water; at any 
rate, in the presence of the other residual material of the baking 
powder. 

In the powders containing calcium acid phosphate along with alum, 
part of the lime is in solution as carbonate dissolved by excess of car- 
bonic acid. In such of these phosphate and alum powders as had least 
excess of alkali (bicarbonate of soda), the whole, or nearly the whole 
of the phosphoric acid was left in the part of the residue insoluble in 
water. 

6. Presence of a little organic matter {sohMe starch) in the watery 

solution obtained from the haking powders. 

The solution obtained by acting on the powders with excess of cold 
water gave a strongly marked violet tint with a weak solution of free 
iodine, due to the presence of a little soluble starch. No dextrine or 
glucose was found. The presence of organic matter, although in 
very small amount, may possibly aid in bringing a little aluminum, or 
calcium phosphate, or aluminum hydroxide, into solution. 

7. Existence of aluminum largely as phosphate in consequence of the use 

of calcium axiid phosphate along with ahim. 

It has been pretty generally assumed that from alum baking powders 
the aluminum is left mainly as hydroxide (hydrate) in the bread, 
though attention has been drawn to the fact that some aluminum 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 561 

phosphate may be expected to be formed from the phosphates of the 
Hour itself. The quantity of alumiiuun phosphate so produced would 
probably be small. But, so far as the samples now reported on may 
he taken to represent the usual character of the alum baking powders 
at present in the market, it will have been seen that nearly all of them 
are made with both aliun and calcium acid phosphate, and in the 
reaction of these two ingredients on each other we haye a source of 
the much more abundant production of aluminum phosphate. In fact, 
in all the powders of this mixed character examined, nearly the whole 
of the aluminum was present as phosphate after treatment of the 
powder with water. Not quite the whole, however, as in two or three 
cases aluminum was detectable in the watery solution, while the phos- 
phoric acid was left altogether in the insoluble residue. Of course, in 
such baking powders as are made with alum alone (no phosphate), the 
aluminum is left mainly as hydroxide. 

8. Presetice of iron in small hut varying amount in the hakhig j^owders 

examined. 

Although the quantity of iron in any of the samples examined must 
have been quite small, and no special attention was given to its deter- 
mination, it was incidentally observed that this impurity varied very 
notably from one sample to another. This seems to indicate very 
different degrees of pains taken by different manufacturers to procure 
and use pure materials. 

9, Determmiation of the temperature to which the i/nterim' of hread is 

suhjected in the process ofhaking. 

As aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate are heated they 
give off water, and in consequence of this loss of water they become 
less soluble in acids, the anhydrous aluminum oxide (or alumina) being 
practically altogether insoluble in diluted or even pretty strong acids, 
while the anhydrous phosphate can be dissolved by them only slowly 
and with difficulty. When, therefore, we come to consider the solu- 
bility or insolubility of the residues left in bread from alum baking 
powders, not in water, but in the digestive fluids, especially in the acid 
gastric juice, it is important to know in what condition of hydration 
these residues are left in the bread, i. e., how far water has already 
been driven oft' and insolubility produced, and as a first step we need 
to know to what temperature the interior of the bread has been exposed 
in the oven during baking. 

There is ample information to be found as to the usual or desirable 
temperature of the oven, but I have found no results of direct experi- 
ments on the temperature attained by the interior portions of the 
bread itself. It is remarked by some writers that, as there is much 
water still left in the bread when the baking is complete, the temper- 
ature of the inside of a loaf can not be expected to much, if at all, 
exceed the boiling point of water under common atmospheric pressure. 
But it seemed desirable to make some direct observations on this point, 
and this has now been done, the temperature of the oven, and of the 
interior of the bread while baking, and up to the time of withdrawal, 
having been noted, first, for a large public baking oven of brick, 12 
feet by 14 feet, heated by a coke fire; second, for a smaller brick 
FP 36 



562 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

oven in family use, and third, for the ovens of ordinary cast-iron 
cooking stoves, burning wood and coal, respectively. The results 
were substantially uniform. The temperature of the oven atmosphere 
varied from 472° to 496° F., while the maximum temperature shown 
by the registering thermometer with its bulb in the center of a larger 
or smaller loaf of bread, ranged from 197° to 212° F., never exceed- 
ing the latter point. In the case of the lowest temperature noted the 
bread as taken out of the oven was not quite sufficiently baked through, 
retaining rather more than a proper amount of moisture in the center 
of the loaf. Hence it may fairly be concluded, as the result of direct 
experiment, that the aluminum hydroxide and hydrated aluminum 
phosphate left in bread from alum baking powders are never exposed 
in bakjng to a temperature higher than 212° F. 

10. Determi/)iation of the condition of hydration of aluminum hydrox- 
ide and hydrated aluminum jphosjphate after drying at 212° F. 

These two substances were prepared in a pure state by precipitation, 
carefully washed, and allowed, in the first instance, to become dry at 
the common temperature of the atmosphere, covering them lightly to 
exclude dust. A portion of each contained in a small '"'boat" was then 
exposed in a wide tube, maintained at or close to 212° F. by an out- 
side bath of water kept boiling, to a slow current of air nearly satu- 
rated with moisture at the same temperature, so as to place the material 
experimented on as nearly as possible in the same condition as if it 
were inclosed in a mass of bread undergoing the process of baking. 
This state of things was maintained for an hour and a half — a time con- 
siderably longer than that usually occupied in baking. The boat was 
withdrawn from the tube and accurately weighed, then heated grad- 
ually to bright redness, cooled, and weighed a second time. The 
difference between the results of the two weighings gave the amount 
of water removable from the material taken, as in the condition in 
which it would exist in baked bread. The results were as follows: 
Aluminum hydroxide as taken gave off 39.11 per cent water; alumi- 
num phosphate as taken gave off 31.65 per cent water. 

These figures correspond to about one molecule of surplus water for 
each three or four molecules of the normal aluminum hydroxide 
(Al (110)3), ^*^d ^ little over three molecules of water for each molecule 
of normal aluminum phosphate (AlPOJ. 

11. Experiments upon the influence on digestion of moderate doses of 
aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate swallowed shortly 
hefore or along with food. 

Having been interested b}'- the results of a few experiments made in 
my own person a year or two ago on the apparent interference with 
digestion of these substances, I have tried a large number of such 
experiments under more carefully noted conditions and with definite 
quantities of the materials used, in order to test directly the physio- 
logical effect of the residues from alum baking powders, so far as this 
can be determined by their action in the case of a single person. 

The experiments were made with a carefully prepared stock of the 
pure hydroxide and phosphate of aluminum, dried at 212° F. in the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 563 

way and to the extent described above (10). A weighed quantity of 
one or the other was swallowed either before — generally aljout ten 
minutes or a quarter of an hour before — a regular meal (using only a 
little water with the powder) or along with the food of an ordinary meal, 
and the effect, if any, upon the course of digestion noted and recorded. 
The experiments were made with intervals of three or four days 
between them; the food taken was of various kinds, l)ut always simple 
and wholesorae, and not likely of itself to produce disturbance of 
digestion; there was no preexisting derangement of the digestive 
functions when any experiment was undertaken; as much care as pos- 
sible was taken to avoid any mere fancying of expected symptoms, 
and to state with moderation what was actually experienced. The 
results of all the experiments made were recorded, and the record was 
preserved in the words which seemed at the time most accurately to 
express the sensations observed. 

While on two or three occasions, particularly with the smallest doses 
used, there was no clearly observable effect, the general tenor of the 
experiments seemed to establish beyond doubt on ni}^ part the fact 
that the ingestion of the aluminum compounds used produced an inhib- 
itor}' effect on gastric digestion, while in some cases, particularly 
with the larger doses, and on the whole rather with the hydroxide 
than the phosphate for equal weights of the two, the interference with 
the course of digestion was very notable. There was no gastric pain, 
nor were there any other symptoms of gastric or intestinal irritation, 
but simply the well-known oppressive sensations of indigestion prop- 
erly so called, lasting for a longer or shorter time, but generally for 
at least two or three hours after the taking of food. 

The quantity of aluminum h3Tlroxide swallowed in each experiment 
varied from 10 to 50 grains, the average for all the experiments being 
about 28 grains. The quantity of aluminum phosphate used ranged 
from 10 to 100 grains, the average being -15 grains. These doses were 
intentionalh^ made larger than the quantities of the aluminum com.- 
pounds in question derivable from such an amount of bread as would 
usually be eaten at a time if alum baking powder in anything like 
usual proportion had been employed in making it. The object was 
to ascertain with what doses distinct effects were noticeable, and 
this seemed to be generally the case with any dose not less than 
20 grains of the hydroxide or with not less than 30 or 40 graiilS 
of the phosphate. It maj^, of course, be reasonably supposed that 
a considerably less quantity than would be necessary to produce 
decided discomfort when once administered might prove objectionable 
and injurious if habitually taken as a part of the bread of each daily 
meal. With the proportion of alum in most of the baking powders in 
use, with the allowance of two teaspoonfuls (counted as about 200 
grains, though as nmch as 250 grains was found to be sometimes meas- 
ured by a cook) of powder to a quart of ffour, and assimiing 35 or 40 
per cent of water in leaked bread, a pound of bread would contain 
about 13 or 14 grains of aluminum hydroxide if alum alone were used 
in making the powder, or about 20 or 21 grains of aluminum phosphate 
if alum and calcium acid phosphate were used together and all the 
aluminum were left in the bread as phosphate — these weights being 
taken for the substances assumed in the condition of hydration shown 
by the experiments recorded in preceding paragraphs. 



564 ADULTERATION OF FOOD TKODUCTS. 

12. Laboratory experiments on tlie effect of treating a liquid hoA)ing the 
general composition of gastric jidce with alwminmn hydroxide and 
phosphate. 

Some light seems to be thrown on the nature of the interference with 
digestion of these aluminum compounds by a few experiments made 
with an artificial gastric juice, prepared by dissolving 2.5 parts of 
(real) hydrochloric acid and 3 parts of a pretty easily soluble "pepsin" 
in water enough to produce 1,000 parts of the liquid. 

A weighed quantity (about 50 grains) of either aluminum hydroxide 
or aluminum phosphate, carefull}^ prepared and dried at 212° F., as 
described above (10), was added to a quantity of this liquid containing 
somewhat more hydrochloric acid than would suffice for complete 
solution, and the mixture allowed to stand, with occasional shaking, 
in a stoppered glass flask at about the temperature of the human 
body (98° or 99° F.) for a period which might be taken to represent 
something like the term of gastric digestion (two or two and one-half 
hours). The liquid was then filtered and a definite fraction of it 
evaporated to dryness at a low temperature over a water bath, and the 
residue dried at 212° F. and weighed. This residue was afterwards 
heated to redness i\i the air until all water was expelled and all organic 
matter burned off, and a second weighing made. In like manner the 
undissolved matter left upon the filter was dried at 212°, weighed, 
heated to redness in the air, and again weighed. A definite portion 
of the original liquid (artificial gastric juice) which had not been 
treated with either of the aluminum compounds was also, for the pur- 
pose of comparison, evaporated to dryness, the residue dried at 212°, 
weighed, burned, and weighed again. And, finally, weighed portions 
of the particular lots of aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate 
employed were treated in the same way, and the loss of weight at 212°, 
and after heating to redness, ascertained. 

From the data thus obtained it appeared that in each case a part of 
the aluminum was dissolved by the feebly acid liquid, while on the 
other hand a part of the organic matter used as pepsin was rendered 
insoluble and left with the undissolved portion of the aluminum com- 
pound present. When aluminum hydroxide was used from 47.3 to 

61.8 per cent of it was dissolved, from 5.6 to 14.5 per cent of the pep- 
sin being at the same time precipitated or thrown down from the solu- 
tion. When aluminum phosphate was used the proportion of it taken 
up by the liquid ranged from 38.2 to 49.1 per cent and from 25.8 to 

32.9 per cent of the pepsin was rendered insoluble. These figures rep- 
resent but approximate quantitative results for the organic matter 
precipitated, as it was found extremely difficult to secure equal drying 
of the materials weighed, and moreover in the case of the aluminum 
hydroxide, added to the artificial gastric juice, a turbid gelatinous liq- 
uid was produced which it was impossible to filter to a state of perfect 
clearness. It was shown, however, distinctly that there was a double 
effect on the liquid treated, both the principal constituents of natural 
gastric juice being influenced; the hydrochloric acid was in part charged 
with the aluminum used, taken up in soluble form, and there was 
simultaneous removal from solution of the organic matter represented 
by the digestive ferment pepsin. This double effect may fairly be 
taken to indicate impairment of digestive efficacy of the natural gas- 
tric juice if exposed to similar treatment. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 565 

13. Probable similar relation of the aluminum cmwpounds ea;perim£^ited 
on to the soluble organic matter of food as to that of the gastric juice. 

Although 1 have not as yet made any direct experiments on this 
point, it seems highly probable that the second of the two effects above 
noticed, namely, the partial precipitation in insoluble form of some of 
the organic matter of a liquid having the general composition of gas- 
tric juice, would be l)rought about also if soluble albumenoid and other 
forms of organic matter of food were similarly treated, the aluminum 
hydroxide or phosphate apparently entering into a sort of more or 
less loosely united compound with such organic matter, somewhat as 
is the case when, in dyeing, coloring substances of organic origin are 
fixed by aluminum mordants. If so, there would be apparent a fur- 
ther explanation of the impairment of digestion of the aluminum com- 
pounds in question, a part of the food, already in soluble form, being 
rendered insoluble on the one hand, while on the other, the integrity of 
at least one of the most important digestive fluids of the body being 
interfered with, the power of dealing with the portion of the food 
requiring solution would be reduced. 

14. Genial summary of the conclusions reached. 

The main points which seem to be established by the experiments 
under discussion are, briefly stated, the following: 

{a) The greater part of the alum baking powders in the American 
market are made with alum, the acid phosphate of calcium, bicarbonate 
of sodium, and starch. 

{h) These powders, as found in retail trade, give off very different 
proportions of carbonic-acid gas, and therefore require to be used in 
different proportion with the same quantity of flour, some of the infe- 
rior powders in largel}^ increased amount to produce the requisite 
porosity in bread. 

(c) In these powders there is generall}'^ present an excess of the alka- 
line ingredient, but this excess varies in amount, and there is some- 
times found on the contrary an excess of acid material. 

{d) On moistening with water, these powders, even when containing 
an excess of alkaline material, yield small quantities of aluminum and 
calcium in a soluble condition. 

{e) As a consequence of the common employment of calcium acid 
phosphate along with alum in the manufacture of baking powders, 
these, after use in bread making, leave at any rate most of their alumi- 
num in the form of phosphate. When alum alone is used, the phos- 
phate is replaced by hydroxide. 

{f) The temperature to which the interior of bread is exposed in 
baking does not exceed 212° F, 

(^) At the temperature of 212° F. neither the "water of combina- 
tion" of aluminum hydroxide nor the whole of the associated water of 
either this or the phosphate is removed in baking bread containing 
these substances as residues from baking powder. 

{li) In doses not very greatl}^ exceeding such quantities as may be 
derived from bread as commonly used, aluminum hydroxide and phos- 
phate produce, or produced in experiments upon myself, an inhibitory 
effect upon gastric digestion. 



566 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



(i) This effect is probably a consequence of the fact that a part of 
the aluminum unites with the acid of the gastric juice and is taken up 
into solution, while at the same time the remainder of the aluminum 
hydroxide or phosphate throws down in insoluble form the organic 
substance constituting the peptic ferment. 

{Jc) Partial precipitation in insoluble form of some of the organic 
matter of food may probably also be brought about by the presence of 
the aluminum compounds in question. 

(/) From the general nature of the results obtained the conclusion 
may fairly be deduced that not only alum itself, but the residues which 
its use in baking powder leaves in bread, can not be viewed as harm- 
less, but must be ranked as objectionable, and should be avoided when 
the object aimed at is the production of wholesome bread. 

Appendix. 

Experimental Results in Detail. 
Table I. — General character of samples examined. 



Brand. 


Size and kind of package. 


Nature of acid ingredients. 




1-pound tin can 


Alum and calcium acid phos- 


Do 


^-pound tin can 


phate. 
Do. 




1-pound tin can 


Do. 




do 


Do. 


Do 


do 


Do. 


State 


. ..do 


Do. 




do 


Do. 


Do .. . 


do 


Do. 




i-pound tin can 


Do. 


Do 


do 


Do. 




Loose (sold in bulk) 


Do. 


Do 


do 


Do. 


Do 


do 


Do. 


Do 


3-ounce tin can 


Do. 




2-ounce tin can 


Do. 


Lion.. . 


4-pound tin can 


Do. 


Do 


do 


Do. 




4-pound paper, tin-foil ends 


Do. 




Do. 


Do 


.'-pound tin can 


Potassium alum and calcium 






acid phosphate. 
Alum and calcium acid phos- 




j-pound tin can 


phate. 
Do. 




do 


Alum alone. 




do 


Alum and calcium acid phos- 




4-pound tin can 


phate. 
Do. 


Do 


do 


Do. 




1-pound tin can 


Do. 









In the above table, alum was wholly or partially ammonium, unless otherwise specified. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 



567 



Table II. — ^imount of carbon dioxide {carbonic acid) ga.'^, measured at 60° F. and, 30 
inches jiressure, evolved on contact tintli excess of water. 



Brand. 



Davis's 

Do 

Sunny South 

Kenton 

Do 

State 

Silver King 

Do 

Davis's O. K 

Do 

Patapsco 

Do 

Do 

Do 

Baker's 

Lion 

Do 

Dixon's 

Haynor's Superlative . 

Do 

Sanford's 

Silver Star 

One Spoon 

Forest City 

Great American 

Do 

Dry Yeast (Davis's) . . . 



Size and kind of package. 



1-pound tin can 

A-pound tin can 

i-pound tin can 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

|-pound tin can 

do 

Loose (much caked) . . . 

do 

Loose (caked) 

3-ounce tin can 

2-oiince tin can 

n-pound tin can 

do 

i-pound paper (caked) 
i-pound glass bottle . . . 

i-pound tin can 

3-ounce tin can 

i-pound tin can 

do 

do 

i-pound tin can 

do 

1-pound tin can 



Volume of 

gas per 
ounce av- 
oirdupois 
of baking 
powder. 



. inches. 
57.19 
78.86 
75.08 
81.89 
77.32 
65.56 
67. 36 
80.27 
62.43 
05.19 
41.28 
65. 27 
52. 41 
57.38 
58.04 
84.70 
67.35 
36.91 
69.37 
.51.36 
59.90 
61. 64 
99.37 
64.11 
58.06 
69.25 
71.54 



Table III. — Excess of acid, or alkali in watery solution obtained on treating baking powders 

with excess of water. 



Brand. 



Nature of package. 



Bicarbonate 
ofsodaequiv 
alent to al- 
kali found in 
excess, for 1 
ounce avoir- 
dupois of 
powder. 



Alum equivalent to 

acid found in excess, 

for 1 ounce avoirdupois 

of powder. 



Davis's 

Do 

Sunny South 
Kenton 

Do 

State 

Silver King . 

Do 

Davis's O. K. 

Do 

Patapsco 

Do 

Do 



Do.. 
Baker's. 
Lion 

Do.. 

Dixon's. 



Ha\Tior's Superlative. 

Do 

Sanford's 

Silver Star 

One Spoon 

Forest City 

Great American 

Do 

Dry Yeast (Davis's) . . . 



1-pound tin can 
i-pound tin can 
i-pound tin can 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

i-pound tin can 

do 

Loose 

....do 

....do , 



3-otince tin can. 
2-ounce tin can. 
i-pound tin can 

do 

i-pound paper . . 



i-pound glass bottle , 

i-pound tin can 

3-ounce tin can 

i-pound tin can 

do 

do 

i-pound tin can 

do 

1-pound tin can 



Grains. 
8.88 
18.96 
13.47 
15.19 
9.45 
11.80 
11.98 
12. 26 
14.04 
6.91 
2.06 
9.37 



12.05 
7.57 
9.58 

14.77 



19.11 
17.05 
4.26 
9.85 
8.82 
11.32 
14. 55 
10.18 
18. 23 



3. 14 grains burnt alum, 
or 5.78 grains crys- 
tallized alum. 



0.86 grain burnt alum, 
or 1.58 grains crys- 
tallized alum. 



568 



ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 



Table IV. — Amounts^ of aluminum and calcium found in watery solution obtained on 
treating some of the baking powders vrith excess of water. 



Brand. 



Nature of package. 



Alumi- 
num in 
soluble 
form 
from 1 
ounce 
avoirdu- 
pois of 
powder. 



Equivalent to- 



Burnt 

ammonia 

alum. 



Crystal- 
lized 
ammonia 
alum. 



Calcium 
in soluble 
form 
from 1 
ounce 
avoirdu- 
pois of 
powder, 



Equiva- 
lent to 
lime. 



Davis's 

Kenton 

Silver King 

Davis's O. K 

Patapsco 

Lion 

Silver Star 

One Spoon 

Great American . . . 



1-pound tin ran . 

....do 

....do 

i-pound tin can . 

Loose 

i-pound tin can. 
i-pound tin can. 

....do 

i-pound tin can . 



Grains. 
0.32 
.19 
.37 
.33 
.29 
.20 
.25 
.46 
.31 



Grains. 
2.92 
1.73 
3.37 
3.01 
2.64 
1.82 
2.28 
4.19 
2.84 



Grains. 
5.37 
3.19 
6.21 
5.54 
4.86 
3.36 
4.19 
7.72 
5.20 



Grains. 
1.59 
1.46 
2.25 
1.33 
1.56 
.68 
1.04 
Trace. 
1.34 



Grains. 
2.23 
2.04 
3.15 
1.86 
2.18 
.95 
1.46 
Trace. 
1.88 



Table V. — Results from sivallowing aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate. 



Date. 


Substance tried. 


Dose. 


Time of taking. 


Apparent effect. 


1888. 
July 2 

July 5 


Aluminum hydroxide. 

Aluminum phosphate. 
Aluminum hydroxide. 
do 


Grains. 
20 

20 
40 
40 

40 

30 
50 
50 
60 

10 
10 
10 
25 
50 

20 
40 
20 
15 
100 

75 
50 

30 
30 


Before breakfast. 
do 


Feeling of discomfort and oppression 

for some time after eating. 
Same, not so strongly marked 


July 9 
July 13 


With breakfast.. 
do 


Same, very distinctly observable. 
Same, about to same extent apparently, 

perhaps rather more marked. 
Uncomfortable feeling, but not lasting 

more than half an hour. 
Well-marked indigestion. 
Moderate discomfort. 
Same, less pronounced. 
Decided discomfort for three hours after 


July 17 

July 20 
July 24 
July 27 


Aluminum phosphate. 

Aluminum hydroxide. 
Aluminum phosphate. 
do . 


Before dinner . . . 

With dinner 

Before dinner ... 
do.. . 


July 30 


do 


do 


Aug. 3 
Aug. 6 


Aluminum hydroxide. 
Aluminum phosphate. 
Aluminum hydroxide. 
do. 


do 


the meal. 
Slight feeling of oppression. 
No perceptible effect. 
No effect observable with certainty. 
Moderate degree of discomfort. 
Distinct fit of indigestion, lasting until 


do 


Aug. 10 
Aug. 13 
Aug. 16 


With breakfast . . 
Before dinner . . . 
do 


do 


Aug. 20 
Aug. 23 


Aluminum phosphate. 
do 


With dinner 

Before breakfast. 
Before dinner . . . 
do 


night. 
No effect observable with certainty. 
Slight oppression. 
Decided oppression and flatulence. 


Aug. 28 
Aug. 31 


Aluminum hydroxide. 
do 


Sept. 3 
Sept. 6 


Aluminum phosphate. 
do 


Before breakfast. 

Before dinner . . . 
With dinner 

With breakfast . . 
do 


Marked discomfort and impairment of 
digestion. 
Do. 


Sept. 10 

Sept. 13 
Sept. 17 


Aluminum hydroxide. 

Aluminum phosphate. 
Aluminum hydroxide. 


Distinct feeling of indigestion for sev- 
eral hours. 
Slight discomfort. 






from indigestion. 



Table VI. — Action of aluminum hydroxide and aluminum phosphate on artificial gastric 

juice. 



Substance used. 



Aluminum hydroxide 

Do 

Do 

Aluminum phosphate 

Do 

Do 




ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS 509 



TESTIMONY OF BENJAMIN RIPEN. 

Benjamin Ripen, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman, What is your business? 

Mr, Ripen. Champagne making and selling". 

The Chairman. Where is your place of business? 

Mr. Ripen. Ripen & Co., 152 Chui'ch street, New York. 

The Chairman. How do you make your champagne ? We do not wish 
to inquire into any trade secrets which you do not wish to make public. 
That is not the object of the committee. We ask these questions 
directly, and if there is any part of the process that will involve your 
exposing any trade secrets to your competitors here or elsewhere we 
do not call for that. 

I will state to you preliminarily, in order that you may have it 
before you, that the statement has been made before this committee 
that the trade meaning of the word "champagne" is "a wine fer- 
mented in the bottle," and that any wine sold that is not fermented in 
the bottle ought to be marked accordingly. 

Senator Foster. Ought to be so labeled. 

The Chairman. Ought to be so labeled. When I ask you, there- 
fore, how you make your champagne you will understand that you are 
not compelled to state any of your trade secrets, only so far as you 
may wish to do so. 

Mr. Ripen. I have a letter, Mr. Chairman, which is briefly worded, 
which I intended to send to you before I knew that I was coming here, 
and if you will permit me I will first read from that. 

The Chairman. We shall be glad to hear it. 

Mr. Ripen. This letter states: "■ One of the bills before the Commit- 
tee on Manufactures provides that effervescent wines made in this 
country in any other way than by fermentation in the bottle shall 
have printed across the label ' Carbonated champagne.' 

"Originally the word 'champagne' designated wine from the prov- 
ince of Champagne, in France, whether effervescent or still; and for 
more than fifty years no such wine has been marketed in this country. 
General usage has given the name ' champagne ' to all effervescent 
wines, regardless of the place where or the manner in which made; 
and to-day this definition is not only unanimous with the trade and the 
public, but is acknowledged in every modern dictionary and encyclo- 
pedia. 

"From a health standpoint chemists and physicians indorse cham- 
pagne made by the modern process, and declare it far purer than that 
made in the old and crude way. 

"The effect of this bill would be to alter and restrict the accepted 
meaning of a word. The only motive that actuates the small clique of 
high-priced wine makers who expect to derive benefit from the pas- 
sage of this bill is a desire to stiffe competition by unfairly restraining 
trade in the so-called American champagne. We would he pleased, if 
desired, to enter more fully into the details of this subject." 

That is what is stated in the letter. I shall be glad to answer any 
questions which the committee may see fit to ask me. 

I will state, in the first place, that we buy our wine from a certain 
district in California — a wine that is called a Hillside of "Riesling." 
It is not less than 3 years old. That is the age at which wine is sup- 



570 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

posed to be perfectly healthful to drink. It is guaranteed to us to be 
pure, containing- no outside ingredients. 

Senator Foster. How do you know that it is pure, beyond having 
it "guaranteed" to 3^ou? 

Mr. Ripen. I will tell you how we know that. We formerly had 
the wine examined, and when we want a batch of wine now we go to 
the party from whom we bought it and state that we want that same 
wine, with their guaranty that it is pure, the same as the previous 
shipments. We are compelled to take their word for it. 

Senator Foster. That is shipped in casks, is it ? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes, 

Senator Foster. What effect has the air on it ? 

Mr. Ripen. White wine would eventually come into contact with 
the air and would become sour, but this is hermetically sealed. When 
it comes into our place we work it over for probably six months. I 
do not think our wine is sent out from our place until it has been in 
the place for six months. In that period of six months we run it 
through a clarifying process which is best known to us, and we make 
it into champagne by the addition of gas. 

The Chairman. In that clarifying process you do not use any dele- 
terious substance? 

Mr. Ripen. No ; no chemicals whatsoever. 

The Chairman. Or preservatives? 

Mr. Ripen. No. 

The Chairman. No salicylic acid, or anything like that? 

Mr. Ripen. No, sir ; no chemicals whatsoever, as I have said. 

It came to my notice, personally, that some of the other champagne 
makers came before your committee, and one of them has printed some 
questions and answers which it is presumed were asked and answered 
before the committee, and those questions and answers so printed 
were sent out to customers and to the trade in general [exhibiting a 
pamphlet]. 

We use a method of our own in carbonating our wine — carbonating 
it by a gas which is represented to us, and guaranteed to us, to be 99^ 
per cent pure. When that champagne is ready it is allowed to rest a 
while, to see whether any action takes place in it. After letting it rest 
for about a month we ship it out, and that champagne is then purer 
than any made anywhere in the world. I say here that it is purer tkan 
a natural fermented wine or a wine fermented in the bottle. Our wine 
is clean and pure when we get it; it is "aged." Then we use a gas 
which is absolutely pure — as pure as it can be. We have brought the 
chemist along who is connected with the place where the gas is made. 
Champagne which is fermented is made from a new wine. 

The Chairman. It ferments in the bottle ? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes; but the gas generated by the fermentation of the 
wine is carbonic-acid gas, the same as we put in the wine. Carbonic- 
acid gas (COo) would be the same whether generated in the bottle or 
otherwise ; it is carbonic-acid gas ; but the carbonic-acid gas which we 
use is 991- per cent pure — as pure as it can be obtained commercially, 
while the carbonic-acid gas if drawn from the champagne bottle (if 
fermented in the bottle) would, in my opinion, be found to be only 90 
per cent, or, as chemists say, 95 per cent, pure. That 95 per cent con- 
tains ethers and injurious gases which are deleterious to the system; 
and for that reason I claim that the wine which we make is purer and 
better than any naturally fermented wine could be. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 57 1 

As I have said, the public all through the country recognize as cham 
pagne an effervescent wine. The trade recognizes it to bean efferves- 
cent wine and all encyclopedias and dictionaries give the meaning of 
champagne as an effervescent wine, whether carbonated or fermented 
in the bottle. 

The Chairman. Have you got the definitions copied out? 

Mr. Ripen. 1 have not got them copied out, })ut I have read them 
over. 

The Chairman. I wish you would have those definitions copied and 
sent to me. 

Mr. Ripen. I will do so with pleasure. 

The Chairman. The makers of champagne fermented in the bottle 
made the point very strongly that the trade considered the word 
" champagne " to mean '' wine that is fermented in the bottle." 

Mr. Ripen. There are conflicting statements as to that. Mr. Wer- 
ner, who is here, has a letter from good authority which bears upon 
the subject, and which he will propably read. The definitions I 
referred to are those of the recent dictionaries, such as Funk & Wag- 
nalFs and the last edition of the Encj'^clopedia Brittanica. 

Mr. Augustus C. Werner, Jr. I have here a letter from Charles 
McK. Loeser's Sons, editors of Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular, 
relating to the meaning of the word "Champagne." It was written 
with reference to some statements made by the American Wine Manu- 
facturers, who were before this committee. 

The letter is as follows: 

[Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular.] 

Office Charles McK. Lceser's Sons, 

Mw York, Decemher W, 1899. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of the 18th instant we beg to say 
that the word "champagne" is a term used to designate wines grown 
in the old province of Champagne, in France, and properly used to 
designate only those wines. 

The French courts have taken the matter under consideration in so 
far as to prohibit the manufacturers of sparkling wines in any other 
province but Champagne from designating their manufacture as 
"champagne." 

It has become a custom in this country to call our sparkling wines 
" champagnes," but were our practice in courts of law as rigid as those 
of France there is no doubt but that the use of this term in connection 
with our sparkling wines could be prohibited. 

Your friend was perfectly right in stating that neither in Germany, 
Itah% or in any other wine-producing country, nor in France, outside 
the province of Champagne, have people any right to call their prod- 
uct "champagne," nor do the}" do so, save as a means of deceiving 
the unwary purchaser. 

We trust that this information will be satisfactory, and have the 
honor to remain. 

Very truly, yours, 

Charles McK. Lceser's Sons. 

Mr. J. Kohnstamm, 

Newark., N. J. 



572 ADULTER ATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Mr. Ripen. Those gentlemen are the proprietors and editors of 
Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular. 

As to the point which our competitors brought out, that the manu- 
facture of carbonated wine cost 76 per cent less than the other, it is 
my firm belief that the difl'erence in cost, if any, is very small, even 
probably only 15 per cent. 

The Chairman. This is true, is it not, that the fermenting of the 
wine in the bottle takes them at least four years 'i That is what they 
all stated, and I see no reason why they should misstate it; they all 
seemed to be reputable gentlemen. 

Mr. Ripen. It is my belief that there never was a champagne fer- 
mented in the bottle in this country which took four years. I do not 
believe that it took any longer than two years. People who have been 
working for those men, at the head of their cellars, have informed me 
that it took on an average a year and a half. 

The Chairman, Of course that would be only hearsay evidence? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes, 

The Chairman. It is only what other people tell you? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes. 

The Chairman. You never have fermented any wine in the bottle 
yourself ? 

Mr. Ripen. No. 

The Chairman. And what you state about it in that respect is merely 
as a basis of your opinion, and is hearsay? 

Mr. Ripen, Yes, There has been something like deception, I think, 
on the labels, but we put our own name, '"'■ Ripen & Co.," on the bot- 
tles. I believe there are also some carbonated-wine makers who put 
fictitious labels on their bottles. 

The Chairman. You do not think that that is good, honest business, 
though, do you? 

Mr. Ripen. No, I believe that if a man is not ashamed of the goods 
he puts up he should put his own name on them. 

Senator Foster. What percentage of the champagne in this country 
is artificially carbonated ? 

Mr. Ripen. Do you mean of American make or imported? 

Senator Foster. All sold in this countiy. 

Mr. Ripen. There is a good deal of champagne sold here which is 
carbonated on the other side. 

Senator Foster. Labeled as if fermented in the bottle? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes. 

Senator Foster. What percentage of the champagne made in the 
United States is, you think, fermented in the bottle? 

Mr. Ripen. I should think about one-third is fermented in the 
bottle and two-thirds carbonated. 

The Chairman. How is it with regard to the imported champagne 
that is used here? 

Mr. Ripen. As to the imported champagne, to the best of my 
belief the majority of that is the naturally fermented wine. 

Senator Foster. But you know that some of it is carbonated ? 

Mr. Ripen. Oh, yes; and it is openly known in the trade. They 
send it here. 

Senator Foster. Marked "Mumm" or "Krug?" 

Mr. Ripen. Yes. I do not specify those wines, however, as being 
so treated. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 573 

Senator Foster. But some wines are falsely so labeled 'i 

Mr. Ripen. Yes. 

The Chairman. And sold as the wine for which they are labeled? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes. 

The Chairman. You do not yourself make the gas that you use? 

Mr. Ripen. No ; and I would state that no doubt the answer to one 
of your questions put to one of the other wine makers was mislead- 
ing. He said that the gas was made from sulphuric acid and marble 
dust. I do not believe that carbonic-acid gas is made at all to-day in 
this country from sulphuric acid or marble dust. In order to make 
plain to you the quality of gas which we use, and which comes from 
the natural springs and is claritied, we have brought with us Mr. 
Minor, the chemist of the Carbonic Acid Gas Company in New York. 

The Chairman. We shall be glad to hear Mr. Minor. 

TESTIMONY OF JOHN C. MINOR, JR. 

John C. Minor, Jr., sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your profession and residence. 

Mr. Minor. I am an analytical chemist and consulting chemist; 
address. No. -iO Hudson street, New York City. I am also secretary 
and manager of the New York Carbonic Acid Gas Company, and. as 
Mr. Ripen said, I am also chemist for that company. 

The Chairman. Where did you study chemistry ? 

Mr. Minor. I am a graduate of Yale University. 

The Chairman. When were you graduated? 

Mr. Minor. In 1894. 

The Chairman. And since that time j^ou have been occupied in the 
pursuit of that profession ? 

Mr. Minor. Since that time I have been engaged for two years in 
the superintendency of a manufacturing establishment in which food 
products were made, and for about three years I have been engaged in 
the manufacture, and of late in the importation also, of liquefied car- 
bonic-acid gas. In addition to that I have had my own analytical 
laboratory and have carried on a general chemical business. 

The Chairman. You are called specially to answer a few questions 
in regard to the use of this carbonic-acid gas that you use in what we 
call carbonated wine, or champagne artificially prepared. How do you 
make that gas ? 

Mr. Minor. That gas is and can be made in various manners. The 
process by which the gas is prepared which is used for the purpose 
of carbonating champagne is not a process of manufacture, but of 
collection. 

It is certainly as proper to consider the gas which we use as nature's 
own process of generating carbonic acid as to consider natural the proc- 
ess whereby nature generates carbonic acid in the fermentation of 
sugar. There is, to my positive knowledge, only one place in this 
counti y where gas is generated in this way (that is at Saratoga) ; that 
is to say, in such quantity as to make its collection and sale a commer- 
cial possibility. 

The preparation of gas at that point in the State was decided upon 
by people who had learned what had been done in Germany at or near 
the district in which the Apollinaris and the other famous German 



574 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

springs are situated. There they have water from these springs 
coming up out of the ground from a very great depth — a depth so 
great that there is no danger of their mixture with surface gases or 
decomposition of carbonaceous matter. By carbonaceous matter I 
mean organic material. Water coming from these great depths 
reaches the surface charged with a very considerable pressure, due to 
the presence of more carbonic acid gas in the water than the water 
would hold if subjected to merely atmospheric pressure; so that, 
when it is subjected to atmospheric pressure on reaching the surface, 
the excess of carbonic acid gas in it is led off through pipes into a 
gasometer, and, either previous to its entrance into the gasometer or 
subsequent to it, it is, in Germany, passed over a drying apparatus 
which absorbs all traces of moisture in it. That is the only impurity 
in the gas collected in Germany which it is necessar}^ to remove from 
it, and it is not, properly speaking, an impurity. It is only abstracted 
because the subsequent use of the gas is facilitated if it is dry. 

The very small aperture in the valve which is used to hold that gas 
under pressure would freeze up and would stop if you did not use a 
dry gas — not so nuich as to prevent its use, but it is better if the gas 
is dry. That gas is as nearly chemically pure as it can be made. In 
all my experience as a chemist I know of no article made on so large 
a scale where so high a degree of purity is reached as shown b}^ the 
analyses of the gas. I have myself analyzed the gas and I know these 
facts from my own experience. It can be properly spoken of as a 
chemically pure article. Ninety-nine and one-half per cent pure in 
commercial articles is, I think, accepted by any chemist as a statement 
that the article is chemically pure. For analytical purposes, where 
we use only very small weighings, as in milligrams, we would look 
for two-tenths of 1 per cent more purity perhaps. 

The introduction of this gas, which, as I have said, is a pure gas, 
into a still wine, means its absorption by the wine, and the supernatant 
gas is pure carbonic acid gas and nothing else. 

I think that in that way there may be said to be a difference between 
the naturally fermented wine and the artificially carbonated wine. 

The carbonic acid gas that is produced in the natural fermentation 
is not in any way different from that which is artificially forced into 
these still wines. It is produced, in the case of the natural wine, from 
the fermentation of the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide through 
the presence of yeast. Now, Pasteur was the first man who showed 
that if you carried the fermentation to a point where all the sugar was 
decomposed you did not get an amount of alcohol and carbonic acid 
gas that represented the amount of sugar originally present in that 
solution. There was a loss of about 5 per cent somewhere, and it has 
not yet been determined to a certainty what becomes of that other 5 
per cent. There are secondary decomposition products formed. There 
are traces of glycerin, traces of succinic acid, and there are other 
products. 

Now, the natutally fermented champagne is kept closed up during 
the process of fermentation, so that these secondary decomposition 
products do not get a chance to get out. Whatever they are, they 
are in there. In the case of the still wine they do not depend on car- 
bonic acid gas. A still wine is a fermented wine, of course, but all 
wines are made from fermentation. The only material added to it to 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 575 

make it a champagne is the carbonic acid gas, of which we know the 
physiological effect. 

The physiological effect was stated to me l)y a physician yesterday 
(I do not know it of my own experience). The physiological effect of 
a champagne ' '"drunk" is not commensurate with the amount of alcohol 
contained in it, and it is of a more decided and more unwholesome 
effect than the results produced by too much consumption of the arti- 
ficially carbonated champagne. And the only difference that we know 
of that exists between the two is that we have this secondary decom- 
position going on in the naturally fermented champagne. In the arti- 
ficially made champagne we do not hold back the products and refuse 
them a chance to escape when they are formed. There is a difference, 
but what difference exists at all exists in favor of the purity and 
wholesomeness of the artificially carbonated champagne, from a chem- 
ist's standpoint. You are there putting a pure carbonic acid gas into 
a still wine which of itself has been testified to be pure. In the 
other case you are getting products which are not known to be pure. 

The Chairman. Do you furnish this imported carbonic-acid gas to 
the trade? 

Mr. Minor. We import this gas from Germany for ourselves. I am 
also familiar, of course, with the manufacture of our own gas. We do 
not sell that to wine people; that goes to bottlers of soda water, etc. 
With us everything must be as nearly perfect a,s possible, and that per- 
fection we find in the imported gas — the German gas. 

The Chairman. That, as you have testified, is taken from Nature's 
spring, and dried. How is it shipped? 

Mr. Minor. It is shipped in steel cylinders under a pressure of a 
thousand pounds to the square inch. 

The Chairman. Is it pumped into those cylinders? 

Mr. Minor. Yes; by compressors, just as you liquefy air. In the 
process of carbonating champagne the gas is forced into the wine, of 
course; but the carbonic-acid gas in the natural champagne is not an 
inherent part of it. The carbonic-acid gas that is produced in the 
natural fermentation can be isolated until practically the last moment. 
If it were allowed to ferment in an open place all the carbonic-acid gas 
would disappear. As the process of collection now is, in the case of 
brewing, where they are obviating the disadvantage of the second fer- 
mentation, where they have to let the beer stand for a long time to 
evolve enough car])onic acid to make it satisfactoiy for bottling and 
for "aging," they find that they can allow the carbonic acid to be 
evolved in the first fermentation; they can provide for its collection 
and then run the beer straight from that fermentation to the bottling 
tables — passing through an apparatus that evolves the carbonic acid. 
So I am told by many brewers. Some brewers, finding that process 
too costly, use artificial gas and get the same results. It is pure car- 
bonic acid. 

I believe the statement was made here that the carbonic-acid formula 
contains sulphuric acid and marble dust. There are certainly not over 
two firms in the United States, out of twelve here in the East with 
whose processes I am familiar, who use sulphuric acid. If a trace of 
the acid were permitted to get into the carbonic-acid gas it would 
involve them in the greatest injury possible. You can see what a little 
acid in those steel cylinders would do, graduallv weakening them until 
they would burst. Business men could not afford to have that occur. 



576 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Chairman, If they use an acid made of marble dust and sul- 
phuric acid the}^ would not need that pressured 

Mr. Minor. Not if they generated their own. Carl Schultz, the 
New York mineral-water manufacturer, generates his carbonic acid 
from adullomite, and pumps it up to 150 pounds pressure. It is a 
common opinion among the best phj^sicians in the city that it is better 
to use an artificial water, when you know the composition of it, than 
to use a natural water, as to which you do not know what you are get- 
ting from time to time. But whatever it is made from, the carbonic 
acid put on the market to-day by all the firms, although, as I say, we 
have not in this country the apparatus for drying the gas that they 
have in Germany, we have not got it on so tremendously big a scale 
as yet, yet we have a gas purer than that which is evolved from the 
wine itself. 

The Chairman. Mr. Ripen testified that you furnish him the gas 
which he puts into his wine. Do you^ 

Mr. Minor. Yes. 

The Chairman. And you testify that it is the natural carbonic acid 
gas which you import from Germany? 

Mr. Minor. Yes. 

The Chairman. And that it is not a manufactured gas? 

Mr. Minor. Not a manufactured gas. 

The Chairman. But a perfectly natural product. 

Mr. Minor. Yes. 



TESTIMONY OF AUGUSTUS C. WERNER, JR. 

Augustus C. Werner, Jr., sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and occupation. 

Mr. Werner. My residence is in New York. I am a champagne 
manufacturer, my business being at 52 Warren street. New York. 

The Chairman. Do you manufacture what is known as a carbonated 
champagne or do you ferment the wine in the bottles? 

Mr. Werner. We do not ferment the wine in the bottles. We 
inject the gas into the wine. 

The Chairman. Where do you purchase your original stock — where 
do you get your wines ? 

Mr. Werner. Our wine comes from Sonoma County, Cal. 

The Chairman. What is the process of manufacture ? 

Mr. Werner. We get a wine that is three or four years old — accord- 
ing to what the people want. We have it shipped here and it remains 
in our cellars from six months to a year. In that way we allow any 
sediment that may be in it to be precipitated. Then that sediment is 
taken off. After that we filter it, so that it is absolutely pure. 
Nothing remains in the wine except the pure wine. Then we car- 
bonate it — that is, we infuse carbonic acid gas into it. 

The Chairman. How is that done? There is no secret about it, I 
suppose. 

Mr. Werner. No. There is a certain apparatus by which it passes 
through the liquid. While the liquid is going through the cylinder it 
is mixed with the gas. There is no agitation. 



ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 577 

The Chairman. The gases go one way and the wine the other:! 

Mr. Wernp^r. Yes. 

Senator Foster. And they come together? 

Mr. Werner. Yes. It is not as was represented by some of the 
other wine men here. We get our carbonic acid from Oljerlahnstein, 
in Germany. It is the same gas with which they carbonate the 
ApoUinaris water. It is said that that is a natural water, but it is 
not. It is natural when it is in the ground. They take it out, sep- 
arate the gases and purify the water. Then they put the gas back into 
the water. 

The Chairman. The Treasury Department has held — the matter 
was argued b3% I think, Roscoe Conkling; it may have got into court, 
but at any rate the Department held that where water was taken from 
a spring and chai'ged with the gas that came from the same spring it 
was a natural water and not an artiticial water. 

Senator Foster. How do you label your wines? 

Mr. Werner. We label them "A. Werner & Co." I have a speci- 
men of the label here, if you wish to see it. 

The Chairman. Yes; we should like to see it. Show it to Senator 
Foster. 

Mr. Werner (exhibiting the label). Everything is American with 
us. We use no foreign name. 

Senator Foster. This label reads "'Extra Dry. A. Werner & Co. 
Vintage of 1897. Sonoma." 

The Chairman. The word ''champagne" is not used on that label? 

Senator Foster. No. 

The Chairman. What do you mean l)y the term applied to wine 
"extra dry?" 

Mr. Werner. Some wine is not as dry as another. 

The Chairman. But what do you mean by "dry" — all wine is wet 
to rae? [Laughter.] 

Mr. Ripen. Absence of sweetness is what makes it dry. A vinegar 
would be "sour" in the absence of sweetness; a wine is "dry." All 
these wines would, in the natural state, be brut; but they are sweet- 
ened up a little, to suit the palate. 

Senator Foster. As to those champagnes that are made from Cali- 
fornia wines, are any of them labeled as foreign wines that you 
know of? 

Mr. Ripen. Many makers — a majority of those who were here — 
have labels containing French words, which must be to give the impres- 
sion that they are foreign. I do not say that all of them do, but some 
do, use foreign labels; using French words on the labels; such words 
as "Cuvee" and words like that. We openly put our names on our 
labels. To give you some idea of the business, I will say that perhaps 
a thousand street cars contain our advertisement, offering wine for 
50 cents a pint, or $1 a quart, and I presume we have done pretty 
nearly as much business with two small concerns as all those five other 
establishments put together. 

Senator Foster. By pushing your trade ? 

Mr. Ripen. Yes; and by taking small profits. I have gone around 

myself to the doctors in New York City, and have said, "Here is a 

wine we are making that you can recommend to your patients if they 

are sick; a wine that they can get for 50 cents a pint." We say "Let 

FP 37 



578 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

any chemist examine this wine, and if it is not what we say it is, we 
will pay the expense of the examination. It is less injurious than the 
natural wine, by reason of not having the by-products. 

The Chairman. The question before this committee, and what the 
wine makers are urging, is that it should be marked. We are going 
on the theory from the beginning that everything should be marked 
for what it is; and if we should say to you that you should mark your 
product ""Artilicially carbonized," we would say to the other makers 
that they must mark their products "Fermented in the bottle." 

Mr. Ripen. Yes; but our answer to that is that in the original sense 
they do not make champagne; we do not make champagne. Even the 
stuff that comes over here from abroad is not champagne any more. 

The Chairman. If there is any well-defined difference a person 
ought to know what he is buying, ought he not? The matter of edu- 
cating the people to know that, as you say, the artificially carbonated 
wine is just as good (or, as you put it, perhaps better) as it seems — 
ought not that matter to be left to the manufacturer; but let the con- 
sumer know whether he is buying carbonated wine or wine fermented 
in the bottle, just as people who ask for honey ought to know 
whether they are getting honey or glucose? 

From what the other wine men said, I imagine that they do not 
want to put on their bottles the words " Fermented in the bottle," but 
it would seem that if Congress were going to require one class of 
makers to mark on their packages or bottles the nature of the con- 
tents, they should require another class to do likewise. That has been 
the policy heretofore. That is the way we got our flour bill through. 
We had evidence before the committee that pure corn flour was bet- 
ter than the wheat flour, and the parties sent me some of the bread 
made from it. They claimed that it was better than the bread made 
from ground wheat. 

Mr. Ripen. I do not think, Mr. Chairman, that the two cases are 
analogous. We do not introduce any other substance into our wine. 
We take for granted that both wines are straight. Our wine is abso- 
lutely pure and clean. And if you go into the trade and ask a liquor 
dealer anywhere what champagne is, he will tell you it is an efi'erves- 
cent wine." The dictionaries and encyclopedias published of late years 
all give that definition. In three years we have built up a better bus- 
iness and sold more goods than the other people who have been in the 
business twenty -five years. 

Senator Foster. Do not people generally think that wines made 
that way are more deleterious than those fermented in the bottle ? 

Mr. Ripen. We fear that if we should put on our bottles "Car- 
bonated wine," or anything of that sort, people would think it was 
some medicated stufl'. 

Senator Foster. If the other wine makers were to put on their bot- 
tles "Fermented in the bottle" what would be the efiect of that? 

Mr. Ripen. It would probably affect both American champagnes 
and run the trade more to the foreign champagnes. There are a num- 
ber of cheap foreign wines on the market. 

Senator Foster. How is bottled cider prepared? 

Mr. Ripen. That is not a juice of the grape. 

Senator Foster. No; but is there not some preparation used in 
bottling it ? 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 579 

Mr. Ripen. In the carbonation of wine you have to have an abso- 
lutely pure article, because if you do not you will afterwards have 
what is called a precipitation. The foreign ingredients will form a com- 
bination, producing a precipitate, and the wine becomes dark and thick. 
It is a bad thing for the wine and would kill it immediately. So that 
in order to have a carbonated wine that will stand, you have to have 
pure wine. 

The Chairman. What is the import duty on champagne^ 

Mr. Ripen. About |8 a case. 

The Chairman. About 66 cents a quart. 

Mr. Ripen. Yes. And one concern imported last year 103,000 cases; 
another imported 40,000 cases. The importers combined with those 
other people last year in an attempt to prevent us from using the word 
"champagne." 

It is easier for a man to pay 50 cents for a pint than to pay $1.75. 
I compared the other wines with ours, just as a man would compare 
cocktails of different whiskies. A man who drinks the natural cham- 
pagne at night will arise in the morning with a ''big head" on him; 
if he drinks our champagne he will get up in the morning all right; I 
do a good deal of the selling of my wine and in order to get it intro- 
duced I make the tests; I prove that my wine will effervesce as long 
as the other and even longer than any natural wine made in this country. 
I will sa}^ that my wine will effervesce about as long as the imported — 
the better grades; and it will effervesce longer than any American 
fermented wine. 

Mr. Werner. They say that we should put on our labels the words 
"Imitation champagne." 

The Chairman. No. 

Mr. Werner. Or "Artificially carbonated wine. " 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Mr. Werner. In that case people would think that it was an artifi- 
cial wine. You do not have to say that it is artificially carbonated. 
"Carbonated wine" would be sufficient. If you call it "artificial" 
people would think it was an artificial article. 

The Chairman. Yes, that would be prejudicial. 

Senator Foster. Yes, I should think that would l)e prejudicial. 

TESTIMONY OF FRANCIS B. THURBER. 

Francis B. Thurber, sworn and examined: 
The Chairman. Please state your residence and occupation, 
Mr. Thurber. I am president of the American Grocer Publishing 
Company, 143 Chamber street. New York. 

If the conmiittee will permit me, I think it would be best for me to 
make a short preliminary statement, showing my experience, etc., so 
as to qualify my testimony to be considered that of an expert. Per- 
haps that might be best. 

The Chairman. Yes. I know you have taken a great deal of inter- 
est in the manufacture of pure food, and I shall be glad if you will 
state, for the purpose of the record, when it was that you first took an 
interest in the subject and what steps you have taken in regard to it. 
Mr. Thurber. For thirty -five years I was in the wholesale grocery 



580 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

business and engaged in the manufacture and sale of food products on 
a large scale, and was very much interested in the question of pure 
food. 

Many 3^ears ago I became convinced that we ought to have regulative 
legislation that would protect the public health and at the same time 
not be unduly onerous upon trade. Some twelve years ago I proposed 
to the National Board of Trade, which is the most representative col- 
lection of commercial organizations in the United States, that there 
ought to be a thorough consideration of this subject of regulative 
legislation by a committee that would embody the doctor, the chemist, 
the judge of health problems, the jurist, to judge of what was consti- 
tutional and proper, and the business man to judge of the effect upon 
trade. 

I then placed a thousand dollars at the disposal of the National Board 
of Ti'ade, to be awarded in prizes by such a committee, for the best 
draft of an "adulteration act." 

The president of the National Board of Trade appointed a commit- 
tee consisting of Prof. Chas. F. Chandler, the chemist, of New York, as 
chairman; Chancellor Williamson, of New Jersey, as the jurist; Mr. 
John A. Gano, of Cincinnati, and myself, as business men, and I for- 
get who was the physician. 

The committee offered a first prize of $500, a second prize of |300, 
and a third prize of $200 for the best draft of an adulteration act 
which would best protect the public health and not unduly embarrass 
business. They occupied a year in that investigation, received a large 
number of drafts of acts, and awarded the prizes. Taking the first- 
prize act as the basis, we formulated an adulteration act which has 
become the basis of State regulation of food in the principal States — 
New York, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and others. 
Most of th'e States have made variations in their provisions, but so far 
as definitions are concerned they are largely those which were out- 
lined by this committee of which I have spoken. 

It has become more and more evident of late years that with the 
growth of interstate commerce there should be national legislation on 
the subject of food adulterations. As you know, there have been a 
number of bills introduced for several years looking to that end. The 
subject has steadily grown, and there have been several pure-food con- 
ventions held, in which Dr. Wiley has been an important figure. He 
has done more than any other man I know of to advance this legisla- 
tion and to get reasonable and proper and just legislation on this 
question. 

Having made that preliminary statement, in order to show my 
experience and my interest in the subject, I shall be glad, Mr. Chair- 
man, to answer any questions which you may propound to me. 

The Chairman. I wish you would state, if you please, Mr. Thurber, 
something with reference to the sophistication of foods; whether there 
is much of that, and what are its effects. 

Mr. Thurber. The adulteration of food divides itself naturally into 
two distipct channels. One is a crime against health, and the other 
a crime against the pocket. 

There are many deleterious substances used in the adulteration of 
food, and of those, I think, the use should be absolutely prohibited. 
Then there are many substances used for the purpose of increasing 
the bulk or weight or lowering the quality — the cheapening of the 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 581 

qualit3\ Those are, many of them, entirely innocuous, but they are 
made by the manufacturers in order to g-et a greater profit, and they 
unquestional)!}", in many cases, deceive the consumer. 

The question of labeling and selling an article for what it is worth 
is good up to a certain point and applies to a considerable line of arti- 
cles, and is a sufficient protection to the pul^lic so far as deception is 
concerned and making the public pay more than the goods are really 
worth. But there is a very important branch of adulteration as to 
which such a designation is not sufficient. In my opinion, the public 
authority should step in to decide what is and what is not deleterious, 
of those substances used in the manufacture of various products, and 
that the use of those substances should l)e prohilnted, because the 
average consumer is not competent to decide the question whether an 
article is or is not a fit article for him to use. 

The labeling- of articles is in a great degree ineffective, because of 
the manner in which it is done. The statement of a formula on a label 
is not effective in preventing the use of deleterious articles, because, 
as I said, the consumer does not know in a great many instances 
whether it is deleterious or not. 

Again, scientific terms with which the public are not familiar, and 
which are of a technical character, are used upon labels and do not 
convey any well-defined meaning to the average consumer. 

I believe that there should ])e an authority lodged somewhere to 
decide what is and what is not deleterious. For instance, take this 
question of baking powders which was under discussion here when I 
came in this morning. There has been more or less dispute as to 
whether alum was or was not deleterious in baking powders. My 
firm was a considerable manufacturer of baking powders, and we in- 
vestigated that subject as carefully as we could. We took the best 
authorities that we could find. And while there was a great induce- 
ment to us to use alum, as a cheaper product, if it was not deleterious 
to health, We made up our minds that it was deleterious to health and 
that it was one of those substances, as stated by the doctor who was 
testifying here upon my entrance (Dr. Mallet), that while the use of a 
single loaf of bread might not perhaps be noticeable as involving dele- 
terious effects, the cumulative effects of mineral substances like 
alumina, would in time be very deleterious. 

Now, the poorer class of people are the most imposed upon, because 
their means are slender; they buy things that are the cheapest, which 
are represented to them as fit for food, and as a rule they are not as well 
able to distinguish between what is and what is not proper food, and 
in some parts of the country, as in the South, for instance, in the case 
of the colored population, a large number of them are not able to 
read, or at any rate are not able to judge of the propriety of certain 
articles that may be mentioned on the label, and hence I think that 
competent authority must decide what is and what is not a deleteri- 
ous substance, and the use of those which are considered deleterious 
should be prohibited. 

Take the case of that numerous class of preservatives used to pre- 
vent fermentation in food — articles of which salicylic acid is a type. I 
believe the concensus of opinion of medical men is that it is deleterious. 
There are a number of those antiseptics which I believe are deleteri- 
ous, and where the quantity used is of course a consideration — a very 
small quantitj" may not be deleterious while a larger quantity would 



582 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

be so — at the same time, somewhere there has got to l)e lodged the 
authority to decide what is and what is not deleterious, and that which 
is deleterious should be prohibited to be used. That which is whole- 
some, but which is a fraud on the pocket of the consumer may then 
be left to proper labeling, so as to prevent deception. 

But there is a very important distinction in my mind. I do not 
know whether Dr. Wiley would concur with me in that or not — that a 
thing which is deleterious ought not to be used — its use ought to be pro- 
hibited because it is difficult to decide as to just what quantity should 
be used. 

Senator Foster. Then you would prohibit the use of it entirely? 

Mr. Thurber. I should prohibit the use of it entirely. 

The Chairman. I suppose that would mean as between the States, 
which is what we can do in Congress. Now taking your experience, 
what items do you deem most important ? 

Mr. Thurber. I think one of the most important is that class of 
articles in which antiseptics are used, and 1 think baking powders 
another. I think those two l)ranches are perhaps the most important 
to pu])lic health of any that have come under my notice. But, Mr. 
Chairman, I would like to get the idea thoroughly into your mind 
and ask your most careful consideration of what I have emphasized, 
namely, that there must be somewhere an authority lodged to decide 
whether a thing is deleterious or not. 

Mr. Chairman. Yes; I appreciate that. 

Mr. Thurber. And if it is deleterious, it ought to be prohibited 
entirely. 

The Chairman. You think that antiseptics and the use of alum in 
baking powders are two items, for instance, that are deleterious? 

Mr. Thurber. Yes, those are things that have come under my obser- 
vation. There may l)e others. 

The Chairman. Of course. 

Mr. Thurber. But so far as these matters have come under my 
observation, as they did for many years, it seems to me that those two 
are about the most important that we have to deal with for the health 
of the community. 

The Chairman. I have introduced in the Senate a bill on this subject 
of food adulteration. It has been referred to this committee, and I 
hope to have a printed copy of it handed to you to-day. It has the 
approval of Dr. Wiley, who, I agree with you, has done very much 
for the health of the people in these matters. I would like you to 
make such comments on that bill as suggest themselves to j^ou. You 
have no interest in manufacturing matters now ? 

Mr. Thurber. No, I am entirely out of that business now and am 
engaged in the publication business. 

Dr. Wiley. In your bill, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Thurber will find that 
you have provided for the very subjects on which he has made such 
emphasis. 

Mr. Thurber. I am very glad to hear that. 

There is one other point which I mentioned to Dr. Wiley the other 
day, and that is the matter of publicity. The competition among man- 
ufacturers is very keen, and if provision be made for the analysis, and 
for the publication of such analyses as are made, of the articles which 
Dr. Wiley told me would be provided for in the bill, there you have 
the rivalries of trade coming to bear upon the manufacturers. That, 



ADULTEEATIOK OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 583 

in itself, is a very great protection to the pu])lie health. In some 
previous attempts at protection there has been a good deal of opposi- 
tion among the manufacturers to such a position, but I think that is a 
ver}^ important one to insist upon. I would stand for that to the last. 

The Chairman. I appreciate the importance of that. Why, the 
mere taking of the evidence by this committee in the great cities of 
the country has had a very great eflect. 

Senator Foster. It has had a good effect? 

The Chairman, Decidedly so. 

Mr, Thurber. Here is another point that, according to my experi- 
ence, is important. The great majority of manufacturers prefer to 
use wholesome materials, and yet sometimes through unprincipled 
competition of persons who are using inferior materials they are "sand- 
bagged"" into lowering their standard of products, and the manufac- 
turer who endeavors to maintain a high standard is entitled to the pro- 
tection of legislators, so far as it is possible to give them protection. 

The Chairman. Merchants came before us in Chicago and showed 
us a coffee which had 20 per cent of what is called "black jack" mixed 
with it, and told us they were obliged to compete with such coffee, A 
copy of this bill will be here shortly and I will send you one, 

Mr, Thurber, I suppose if I should write to you about it from New 
York it would be all that you desire ? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

The subcommittee adjourned to Saturday, January 20, 1900, at 10 
o'clock a. m, * 



TESTIMONY OF DR. HARVEY W. WILEY— resumed. 

Dr, Harvey W. Wiley, recalled and further examined: 

The Chairman, I have recalled you, Dr, Wiley, for the purpose of 
iinisliing your examination, I Avill ask you to give the committee at 
this time the benefit of the analyses you have undertaken to make, so 
far as they are completed. 

Dr. Wiley, When I came before the committee the other day I had 
mj^ samples with me, but I have concluded that it would take so much 
of the time of the committee to show them and explain them in detail 
that I have concluded it will be best for me to give a summary of the 
work. 

Under your instructions I went with Maj, Duncan B. Harrison and 
visited a great manj^ places in New York, such as groceries, drug 
stores, and saloons, and bought samples from them. We went iDur- 
posely to the poorer quarters; not among the very poorest, not among 
the slums, nor yet among the very best places. 

Senator Foster. You went to places to which the average workman 
would go? 

Dr, Wiley, Yes; and where men of moderate means would go. At 
those places we bought a number of articles of food material, begin- 
ning, say, with beers and wines in the respectable quarters of the city. 
Then we bought a numoer of jellies, preserves, soups, catsups, and 
things of that description, and quite a number of samples of cream of 
tartar, because, as you know, many people in this countrj^ make their 
own baking powder at home. Thej" go to the drug store and buy the 
bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar and mix them at home. Even 
many people in moderately good circumstances make a habit of doing 



/S^ 



584 ADULTEBATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

that. All those goods I brought to Washington and had analyses 
made of them to determine their purity, composition, etc. 

The Chairman. Did j^ou buy sugars? 

Dr. Wiley. We bought maple sirups, but not sugars. We had 
quite a large number of maple and other sirups supposed to be pure 
products. 

To begin with the beers, of fifteen different beers, at least one-half 
of them of foreign origin, we found four — that is, 26. 7 per cent — to con- 
tain salicylic acid; and of the foreign bottled beers two samples 
contained salicylic acid in quantities sufficient to preserve from fer- 
mentation. No other impurities were sought for in the beersexcept the 
preservatives, as that was all we were seeking for. These were all bottled 
beers, not drawn from the wood, showing that when bottled beers are 
prepared for consumption, if the time of sale is uncertain — that is, if 
they may be sold next day or may lie on the shelves for half a year or 
more — then, in order to preserve them, salicylic acid is used. When 
foreign beers are sent here in the wood and then bottled, it is probable 
that the preservative is added at the time of bottling. 

Senator Foster. Embalming them, so to speak. 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. 

Of the domestic beers bottled and sold within two or three weeks 
we found only two of them to contain salicylic acid; the rest were all 
free from it. 

As to the cream of tartars which I purchased, seven in all — and I 
purchased them mostly in groceries, getting only two or three in drug 
stores, because people go mostly to their grocers for them and the 
grocers keep them — out of seven samples which were sold to me as 
cream of tartar onl}^ three were cream of tartar; one other had about 
24 per cent of cream of tartar in it, and one was nearly pure, having 
93 per cent. The others had not a trace of it; the others were phos- 
phate of calcium and calcium sulphate combined. 

Senator Foster. Is it possible that they had no cream of tartar at 
all? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. It is a substance sold in the market as " C. T. 
S." (cream of tartar substitute). Thej^ were not labeled as a substi- 
tute. 

The Chairman. They were sold as cream of tartar? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. 

Senator Foster. And you l)ouglit them as cream of tartar? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes ; and I jDaid 50 cents a ijound for them, the price 
of cream of tartar. They were sold as cream of tartar, although they 
contained no cream of tartar whatever. 

TJie jellies, six in number, without exception were artificial, but 
sold as pure fruit jellies, and labeled as such, and containing a color- 
ing matter in the shape of an aniline dj-e. They are made of glu- 
cose and flavored with extract from the cores of and peelings of the 
factories where apples are desiccated. The cores and peelings are 
made into a low-grade jelly, mixed with glucose and colored with 
aniline dyes and flavored with artiflcial essences. 

To such an extent has this adulteration grown that you are not at 
all certain, even when j^ou go into a high-grade store and ask for a 
jelly, that you are getting the pure fruit jelly for which you ask; 
and if you go into a lower-grade place, you are quite certain to get 
some composite article. 

Senator Foster. Something you do not want. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 585 

Dr. Wiley. And something you do not ask for nor pay for. Yon 
pay a good price ; you pay the price of the best article. 

Senator Foster. What is the difference in price between glucose 
and cane sirup? 

Dr. Wiley. Glucose within the past two years has sold by the 
carload as low as nine-tenths of a cent a pound. 

The Chairman. Nine-tenths of a cent a pound? 
" Senator Foster. Less than 1 cent? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes; and it is a little more than that now. I should 
say the price is about as 1 to 5 compared with the pure article. Pure 
maple sirups are Avorth more than that — they sell from about 7 to 12 
cents a pound. 

The Chairman. That would make about a thousand per cent dif- 
ference? 

Dr. Wiley. Almost. As I testified before the committee on a 
former occasion, I do not consider glucose an unwholesome article of 
food. 

Senator Foster. That is what Professor Mallet said. The difference 
of price is, in that case, the element of fraud? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. The difference is in the pocketbook, as Mr. Thur- 
ber said. The people suppose that they are getting what they ask for, 
but they are not. 

With regard to flavoring extracts, such as lemon extract and things 
used for flavoring food and for flavoring soda water, many of those 
on the market, I think, are artificial compositions. It is quite an 
unusual thing now to get a pure fruit flavor in soda water. 

The Chairman. I remember that when we first went to Chicago 
Dr. Price came and invited the committee to go into his laboratory 
and see everything that he used. My recollection is that you examined 
them. Did you? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes, I did ; and we always found them pure. 

The Chairman. lie was perfectly willing to show us everything. 
Other factories would want people to take samples. 

Dr. Wiley. I do not want the committee to think that there are no 
pure food articles on the market. The newspapers reported me in 
Chicago as sajdng that 95 per cent of all the foods in the United States 
are adulterated. Of course, I never made any such statement to the 
committee, as the official records showed that I did not; but I said 
that probably 95 per cent of food products had at some time or other 
in some conntrj' or other been adulterated. I did not wish to convey 
the imj)ression that most of our foods are a fraud, because they are not. 

Senator Foster. That cream of tartar transaction showed that there 
is some fraud. 

Dr. Wiley. Yes; it is well-known that there are some. Ci-eam of 
tartar is expensive. I paid 50 cents a pound for what I bought. 

The Chairman. There is a well-defined distinction between the 
cream of tartar baking powder and the alum baking powder and 
substitutes. 

Dr. Wiley. There is a very great difference in the cost of making. 

The Chairman. Did you buy any cream of tartar such as is made 
by the cream of tartar companies? 

Dr. Wiley. I went to a factory in Jersey City where they make 
cream of tartar and took the samj)les myself out of the bins in process 
of manufacture. I had the permission of the manufacturer to go in 
and do that as they were at work. I took samples, beginning with 



586 ADULTEBATION OF FOOD PBODUCTS. 

the crude argols as they came into the factory from the wine factories, 
and then took samples at each step of the progress of the work 
throughout the whole range of processes up to the finished article. I 
found that the cream of tartar I got there was chemically pure; so 
pure that I am using it to-day in standardizing for analytical work. 

Senator Foster. Men that are making the pure article are willing 
to let you see their processes? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes; they have nothing to conceal. 

Senator Foster. The others are not willing to let you do that? 

Dr. Wiley. No. 

Without going into details, but summing up the results of the work 
of analysis on the samples purchased under the auspices of the com- 
mittee, I will say that the analyses simply corroborate the evidence I 
gave before your committee in regard to such matters as I have been 
describing and with which I have been dealing in a similar way for 
the past fifteen years. I will repeat that the adulteration of certain 
kinds of food products is very extensive. Immense quantities of 
honey, for instance, that are sold in this country are entirely innocent 
of the beehive. Other packages of honey are sold in which a little 
piece of genuine honeycomb is put into the bottle and the bottle is 
filled up with glucose. In that case, of course, people think it is the 
jjure article because there is the comb plainly in sight. The mass of 
the material is glucose. 

Eleven samples of honey were purchased in connection with this 
work and examined in the usual way. Of these, three were pure, two 
of doubtful purity, and the others, six in number, adulterated with 
cane sugar or commercial glucose or both. 

This goes to show that the former observations which we have made 
of the immense extent of the adulteration of honey are still borne out 
by the present conditions. It is probably safe to saj^ that 5i per 
cent of the strained honeys on the market in the United States are 
adulterated. 

In regard to wines, six samples were purchased, five of foreign ori- 
gin and one of domestic origin (at least, judging from the labels, which 
were all that we had to guide us in the matter). Of the five foreign 
samples, three contained salicylic acid and two were free of any pre- 
servative. The domestic sample contained no preservative. 

It was shown that the wines purporting to be of foreign origin con- 
tained salicylic acid, and in this case more than 50 per cent of the 
whole number were thus adulterated. 

An exceedingly interesting observation was made also on three 
samples of wine purporting to have been made at Paducah, Ky., or 
at least distributed from that place. They were marked "Sherry," 
"Port," and "Sweet Catawba." These wines were absolutely artifi- 
cial and contained no fermented grape juice at all. Thej^ were made 
of alcohol and commercial glucose, a little tannin, and artificial color- 
ing matter, consisting of aniline dyes. The coloring matter was in 
such large quantities that several tufts of wool were beautifully dyed 
vith the colors abstracted from the samples. These wines imitated 
in a general way the flavor, aroma, and taste of the genuine articles, 
and could be sold to persons not acquainted with the property of 
wines without their fraudulent nature being discovered. The fact 
that Paducah is not known as a wine-producing region led to the sus- 
picion that these wines were purely artificial, and this suspicion was 
verified by the results of the examination. 

Spices and condiments are very largely adulterated, and, as I have 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 587 

sliown by the evidence to-day, the cream of tartars sold by the ^oeers 
for home consumption are largely counterfeit articles, some containing 
no cream of tartar at all and some a little. Occasionally you will get 
a genuine sample. 

Senator Foster. How is a man to know? 

Dr. Wiley. It is absolutelj- impossible. 

Senator Foster. He pays the price of cream of tartar? 

Dr. Wiley. He pays the price, but he has no protection. The city 
or the State can police its own people and protect a man in that way, 
and many of the States are doing that, but that does not get at the 
root of the evil. The root of the evil will not be got at until the Gen- 
eral Government places its hand on the business. 

I would like to say for the benefit of the committee that since this 
investigation by this committee has begun the public are beginning 
to see the matter in a different light. Up to that time it was sup- 
posed that interested parties were trying to get some job through 
Congress; but now the people realize that this is a great movement, 
which has its inception in the Senate and is intended for the public 
welfare. 

In order to ascertain the feeling throughout the countrj^on the sub- 
ject of the w^ork on which this committee is engaged, I subscribed to 
a bureau of press clippings and have received hundreds of clippings 
in regard to food adulteration. Out of the hundreds of clippings 
that I have thus received there is not a single one that has not com- 
mended the action of the committee. The clippings relate to the 
work of the committee. They show that there is not a single paper 
in the United States that is opposed to the work which the committee is 
doing. Every one of them has spoken of that work and of the great 
necessitj^ for it. So that there is a universal public sentiment in favor 
of it. The only opposition will be from people who are making or 
selling counterfeit articles. I can safely say that 90 per cent of the 
manufacturers of this country are in favor of this bill which the chair- 
man of this committee has introduced in the Senate, a copy of which 
I will ai:)i)end to my testimony. 

The Chairman. I intend to offer an amendment to the bill which 
shall provide that all manufactured food products that are preserved, 
canned, or jjut out for sale shall have the name of the manufacturer 
on the package, so that in case of anj- accident occurring or any sick- 
ness caused by any food product, any investigation which may be 
undertaken by the Department having charge of the execution of the 
provisions of this bill, if it shall become a law, can be intelligently 
conducted, and so that goods will not be marked with the name of 
Smith when in fact they are manufactured by Jones. Would you 
approve such an amendment to the bill? 

Dr. Wiley. I would if necessary; but in fact that is provided for 
in the bill. 

Senator Foster. The name and address of the manufacturer are to 
be placed on the ]3ackage? 

Dr. Wiley. The bill provides that all manufactured articles of 
food shall be labeled or tagged in such a way as the Secretary of Agri- 
culture may direct. 

Senator Foster. That wall cover it? 

Dr. Wiley. That covers the whole ground. 

The Chairman. We can put in an amendment providing that the 
name of the manufacturer shall appear. 



588 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Dr. Wiley. Yes; the committee can insert a provision that the 
name of tlie manufacturer shall be on the package. That would be a 
protection in thousands of cases, because a manufacturer would be 
careful if his name had to be placed on the goods. 

The Chairman. During the examination of Dr. Austen, of New 
York, at one of the late sittings of this committee, and, I think, before 
you came into the room. Dr. Wiley, Dr. Austen was describing cer- 
tain experiments by Professor Mallet on baking-powder residuum. 
Speaking of those experiments by Professor Mallet, Dr. Austen said : 
"He then made quite a large quantity of it and noted the effect 
produced upon himself. His impression was that it produced an 
oppressive sense. He thought it gave him indigestion. I am very 
frank to say that I do not think the exiieriments are of much weight. 
Professor Wiley, chemist of the Dei^artment of Agriculture, also con- 
siders that his physiological work does not justity his conclusions." 
What statement have you to make in regard to that. Dr. Wiley? 

Dr. Wiley. I was very much surprised when I saw that statement, 
because I was not conscious of ever having uttered such sentiment 
anywhere, and I immediately wrote to Dr. Austen in regard to the 
matter. He was out of the citj^, and I did not hear from him until 
day before yesterday. Then he wrote me, "I onlj^ quote your opinion 
on page so-and-so of a certain bulletin issued from the Department of 
Agriculture." As I never remembered having expressed such an 
opinion, I immediately turned to the place indicated and looked it up. 
I found it to be the opinion of another man altogether. It was not my 
language at all, although it was published by the Department of Ag- 
riculture. Dr. Austen evidently thought (finding it in the bulletin) 
that it was my language. I was giving all the evidence I could get 
and discussing the matter on all sides. It is the statement of Dr. C. 
A. Crampton, and not my statement at all; and Dr. Austen has written 
me that he will make tlie matter right in the galley proof. I wrote 
him also to say that in quoting part of a statement he should quote 
it all and that in justice to Dr. Crampton his whole statement should 
appear. 

Senator Foster. It might have a different effect? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. The statement is to this effect, that of all the 
baking powders Dr. Crampton considers the Royal to be the best. 

The Chairman. That is the cream of tartar powder, is it? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. 

The Chairman. What is your opinion about alum as food? 

Dr. Wiley. My opinion is that it is a poor stuff for food. As I 
have said repeatedly, I do not use it in my own house and would not 
use alum in bread if I knew it. Alum is injurious. 

The Chairman. Taking the weight of authority of scientific, un- 
prejudiced, and disinterested men, the weight of authoritj^ of such 
scientific men is against the use of alum, is it not? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes; because alum is regarded as injurious to the 
system by most authorities. 

The Chairman. The manufacturers generallj^ favor a national law. 
I will state that the manufacturers of beer, of whisky, and other 
products such as "extracts," and I think also of baking powder, 
and, in fact, of every leading article of manufacture, favor such a 
law. The}'^ desire that this proposed commission should be author- 
ized to prevent or make punishable by fine or imprisonment the 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 589 

use of another man's label, or the use of a facsimile for the purpose of 
deceiving. 

Dr. Wiley. That is absolutely prohibited in this proposed bill. 

Senator Foster. Everything that is misleading is prohibited? 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. For instance, New York has a great reputation 
for cheese, but a great deal of cheese is made in other States and 
labeled as New York cheese. 
. The Chairman. For instance, "Herkimer County cheese." 

Dr. Wiley. Yes. 

The Chairman. That is absolutely prohibited. 

Senator Foster. You are in the Agricultural Department, Dr. 
Wiley? 

Dr. Wiley, Yes. 

The Chairman. Dr. Wiley had been in the Department of Agricul- 
ture as Chief Chemist. The Secretary of Agriculture has been very 
kind in allowing him to take up this work on which we are engaged, 
as if it were in his own Department. 

Dr. Wiley. I think the committee ought to know — perhajjs its 
members do know — that the Secretar}^ of Agriculture is interested, 
heart and soul, in this movement for the protection of the people in 
regard to foods; and he has approved of this bill which you, Mr. 
Chairman, have introduced in the Senate, as covering the ground as 
well as it can be covered. 

The Chairman. Will you please state, Professor Wiley, if you have 
made a comparative examination of American and European cham- 
pagnes and of corbonated wines which resemble champagnes ^ 

Professor Wiley. Yes. I have made comparative analysis of the 
wines, with the results which follow. I made an examination of the 
samples of champagne furnished me by Maj. Duncan B. Harrison. 
They were entered in our books as follows: 19325, Golden Seal; 19326, 
Great Western ; 19327, Cook's Imperial ; 19328, White Top ; 19329, 
Le Grande Monarque ; 19330, A. Werner & Co., Extra Dry; 19331, 
Pommery Sec. ; 19332, Moet and Chandon; 19333, G. H. Munim, Extra 

Dry. 

Examination.— Tho. wines were placed in cylinders an inch in diam- 
eter to the depth of 5 inches in each and kept at a temperature of 16° 
and .5° C, equivalent to 62° F., from 12.30 to 5.30 o'clock. They 
were examined every half hour to determine the rate of effervescence. 
The samples showed very little difference in this respect. The bub- 
bles, however, which came from the 19330, that is the W^erner wine, 
were larger in size and less evenly distributed than from the other 
samples. In other words, the distribution of the gas in 19330 seemed 
to be less perfect than in the other samples. 

The samples were allowed to stand overnight, and on the morning 
of Februaiy 6, at 9 o'clock, when they were next examined, it was 
found that all the effervescence had ceased. Even on jarring the cyl- 
inders no appreciable effervescence was produced in any one. The 
cylinders were then placed in a room at a temperatnre of 31° C, 
equal to 88° F. The rise of temperature, however, failed to produce 
any additional effervescence. This experiment shows that there was 
very little difference in the samples in regard to their ability to retain 
gas. 

Color. — All samples were examined for color, the deepest color 
being marked 10, and a cylinder of water, used for comparison, marked 



590 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



1. The depth of color of each sample marked on this scale is shown 
by the following* figures: 

19325, 7; 19326, 7.5; 19327, 7.5; 19328, 7; 19329, 10; 19330, 4; 
19331, 7; 19332, 5.5; 19333, 6. 

Odoi\ — On the morning of February 6 the odor of each of the cyl- 
inders was carefully tested. All of the samples, with the exception of 
19330, which had a bad odor, were pleasant to the smell. The Amer- 
ican wines, however, had a richer and nuttier flavor than those of 
foreign origin. 

Chemical e.rmnination. — The samples were submitted to a chem- 
ical examination and the data obtained are found in the inclosed table. 
It will be seen from the data that the artificial champagne, viz, 
19330, contained a much less quantity of alcohol than the natural 
champagnes. As shown by the polarization, also, this wine differs 
entirely from all the others in being right-handed to polarized life. 
The figures show that a considerable quantity of cane sugar has been 
added to this wine. The other data show that the natural American 
champagnes correspond very nearly to the standard European varie- 
ties in chemical composition. 

In closing, I would say that these analyses show that an artificial 
champagne can be easil}^ detected by chemical means, as well as by the 
taste and odor. In my opinion, all champagnes should be sold under 
their proper name and no artificially carbonated wine should be allowed 
on the market as a genuine champagne. 



Serial 


h 

iB6 


o 
ft . 


0.2 


o 
> 


a^ 

go 
36 


be 






ftO) 


ftH 


g ft 

tiCaj-f- 


uumber. 


X ft 


2g 


o 
o 


OS 


o 

S 
'o 

01 


"St: Si 


Mod) 

O OS P< 


o a> 


m 50 


'3 § o 




w 


< 


w 


< 


" ' 


CO 


H 


> 


CL,iH 


Ph'-' 


« 










Pa- ct. 
















19325 


5. 8704 


0. 1036 


40.1 


12. 09 


9.59 


1.0064 


0. 9.53 


0. 0786 


—0.7 




2.71 


19326 


7. 9348 


.1184 


40.9 


13.10 


10.39 


1.0138 


.953 




- 2.6 





4.09 


19327 


7.0856 


.1376 


34.3 


11.64 


9.24 


1.0150 


.878 


.0806 


- 2.0 




3.36 


19328 


6. 7720 


.1080 


43.7 


12.17 


9.62 


1.0101 


.886 


.0790 


- 2.4 




3.49 


19329 


8. 0668 


.1448 


36.5 


11.67 


9.26 


1.0157 


1.050 


.0798 


- 2.2 




3.77 


19330 


7. 8028 


.2040 


30.8 


9.84 


7.81 


1. 0168 


.748 




+23.3 


+23.3 


2.52 


19331 


4.2816 


.1204 


31.4 


13.62 


10.81 


1.0001 


.731 


.0629 


+ .7 




1.50 


19332 


5.3280 


.1100 


34.5 


12.63 


10.01 


1.0045 


.786 


.0764 


+ .4 




2.52 


19333 


4. 9796 


.1336 


33.3 


13.59 


10.78 


1.0042 


.953 




+1.5 




1.52 



The extract ash ratio is obtained by dividing the extract (minus reducing sugars in excess of 0.1 gr, 
per 100 cc.) by ash. 

The polariscope reading was made on Schmidt and Harnsch instrument with 200 mm. tube, and is 
calculated to natural dilution of the wine. 



Washington, D. C, January 18, 1900. 

Senator William E. Mason, 

Cha/hvnan jSenatarial Committee on Pure Foods. 

Dear Sir: Pursuant to your instructions, I herewith submit the 
following report: 

I procured in open market a pint bottle of each of the following 
wines, viz: 

Imported cJiampagnes. — G. H. Mumm's Extra Dry, 1; Pommery & 
Greno, 1; Piper Heidsieck, 1; Moet & Chandon, 1; Veuve Clicquot, 1; 
total, 5. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 591 

American chmnjpagnes. — Cook's Imperial, 1; Great Western, 1; 
White Top, 1; Golden Seal, 1; Le Grand Monarque, 1; total, 5. 

Amencan carhmated urines. — A. Werner & Co., Extra Dry, 1; liipin 
& Co., Extra Dry, 1; Frash & Co.'s Imperial Cabinet, 1; Germania 
Wine Cellars, Imperial Sec, 1; total, 4. Grand total, 14. 

I placed the fourteen bottles, also a thermometer, in a refrigerator. 
After a period of two and a half hours had elapsed I opened said refrig- 
erator and examined the thermometer, which registered 35 degrees. I 
withdrew the bottles of wine, imcorked them, and placed said bottles 
with the thermometer on top of a steam radiator, and then proceeded 
to time the escaping gases with the following results: 

Actual time consumed for the total cessation of effervescence in each of the following bottles of 

ivine. 

AMERICAN CARBONATED WINES. 

Minutes- 
Grand Imperial Sec 5 

Werner & Co. 's Extra Dry 7 

Ripin & Co.'s Extra Dry 7 

Frash & Co. 's Imperial Cabinet 8 

Total 27 

Average 6| 

IMPORTED CHAMPAGNES. 

Moet & Chandon -ilj 

Veuve Clicquot 43 

Pommery & Greno 43^ 

Piper Heidsieck 44 

Mumm's Extra Dry 45 

. Total 217 

Average 43| 

AMERICAN CHAMPAGNES. 

White Top 46^ 

Cook's Imperial .• 47 

Great Western 48 

Golden Seal 48^ 

Le Grand Monarque 49 

Total 239 

Average 47| 

As the effervescence in each bottle ceased, I shook them to secure, if 
possible, a continuation, but without success. The gas in each instance 
had completely evaporated. 

At the finish of the test, or after fifty minutes had elapsed from the 
time of uncorking the first bottle, the thermometer on top of the 
steam radiator registered 98°. 

The tinfoil was first removed from the neck of each bottle, and the 
wires securing the corks were cut from all the bottles before with- 
drawing the corks, so that there was no appreciable difference in time 
in the uncorking. 

The American champagnes were uncorked first, then the imported 
champagnes, then the carbonated wines. One hour and five seconds 
were consumed withdrawing the corks. 



592 ADULTEJRATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

It will be seen from the above results that the capacities of the vari- 
ous wines to retain their effervescence averaged: 

In the carbonated wines, six minutes forty-five seconds. 

In the French champagnes, forty-three minutes twenty-four seconds. 

In the American champagnes, forty -seven minutes forty-eight 
seconds. 

These tests were made in the presence of Col. Edwin B. Hay, attor- 
ney and counsellor at law and handwriting expert of Washington, 
D. C, and James B. Green, attorney and counsellor at law of Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

I delivered to Prof. H. W. Wiley, chief chemist Agricultural 
Department, for analysis, samples of wine, viz: 

Imported champagnes: Mumm's Extra Dry, Pommery & Greno, 
Moet & Chandon. 

American champagnes: Golden Seal, White Top, Great Western, 
Le Grand Monarque, Cook's Imperial. 

American carbonated wines: Werner & Co.'s Extra Dry. 
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Duncan B. Harrison, 
Sergeant-at-Arnis Senatorial Committee on Pure Foods. 
Witness: 

James B. Green. 

Witness: 

E. B. Hay. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of January, 1900. 
[seal.] George W. Bagg, 

Notary PiihUc. 



Committee on Manufactures, United States Senate, 

Washington, D. C, January 20, 1900. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. WILLIAM M'MURTRIE. 

Dr. William McMurtrie, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence. 

Dr. McMurtrie. I live at 101 West Eighty-jEirst street, New York 
City. 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Dr. McMurtrie. I am a chemist. 

The Chairman. How long have you been of that profession? 

Dr. McMurtrie. I have been in that profession twenty-nine years — 
since 1871. 

The Chairman. Where did you take j^our course of study? 

Dr. McMurtrie. I was graduated from Lafayette College, at Easton, 
Pa., in 1871, with the degree of mining engineer. In pursuance of 
the course leading to that degree I gave special attention to the study 
of chemistry and devoted some time to post-graduate work in that 
department of science. In 1875 I received from the college the degree 
of doctor of philosophy for work done in chemical investigation. In 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 593 

1872 1 was appointed assistant eliemist in the Department of Agricul- 
ture, and in 1873 was advanced to the post of chemist in chief. 

Tlie Chairman. Do you mean tlie Department of Agriculture of 
tlie United States Government? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. Yes. I held that office until the end of 1877, 
when I was appointed agent and representative of the United States 
Department of Agriculture at the Paris Exposition of 1878. I was 
likewise appointed superintendent of agricultural products in the 
United States section of that exposition. 

In connection with mj" work there I had directions to make a special 
study of chemical technology as ai^plied to agriculture, and on my 
return to this countr}^ I was further associated with the Department 
of Agriculture in preparing reports upon agricultural technology, and 
particularly as regards the production of sugar, wine, olive oil, and 
silk, as practiced in Europe. I was likewise appointed to represent 
the Department of Agriculture at the international exposition of sheep, 
wool, and wool products held in Philadelphia in 1880, and to make a 
study of and report upon the physical properties of wools. 

While that work was in jjrogress I was called to the chair of chem- 
istry in the University of Illinois, in 1882, and was connected with the 
university as professor of chemistry until 1888. During this period I 
was likewise chemist to the agricultural experiment station then first 
established in the State of Illinois. I was likewise consulting chemist 
to the State board of agriculture and to other boards of the- State. 

In 1883 I received from the Government of France the decoration of 
Chevalier du Merite Agricole, as the certificate stated, for service 
rendered to agriculture. 

In 1895 I was vice-president for the section of chemistry of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of Science, and was for three 
years chairman of the New York section of the American Chemical 
Society. I am now president of the American Chemical Society. 

During the past twelve years I have been consulting chemist of the 
New York Tartar Company, and am now employed in that capacity 
also by the Royal Baking Powder Company. 

The Chairman. What is the business of the New York Tartar 
Compan}'? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. The manufacture of cream of tartar. I am con- 
sulted likewise hy the Tartar Chemical Company, similarly engaged. 
I am consulted by other corporations and individuals on various ques- 
tions relating to the applications of chemistry in commerce and the 
industries. 

The Chairman. I desire to direct your attention to the question of 
baking powders. This committee is investigating and wants evidence 
as to all foods that are believed to be deleterious to public health, and 
those that are simply sophisticated and sold in fraud of the purchaser. 
And upon the question of public health I desire to direct j'our atten- 
tion to the question of baking j)owders, particularly as to the two 
classes, the alum and the cream of tartar baking powders. You say 
3"ou are now consulting chemist of what baking powder companies:' 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. The Roj^al Baking Powdei- Company, the Cleve- 
land Baking Powder Company, and the Price Baking Powder Com- 
pany all engage me at the present time in that capacity. 

The Chairman. Those three are engaged in manufacturing what 
kind of powder? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. What is known as the cream of tartar baking 
powder. 

F r 38 



594 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

In their manufacture of the cream of tartar, by the companies 
named, every effort is made to secure a finished product of the highest 
purit}'. And I know, from personal observation in connection with 
their work, that they have secured results which constitute a triumph 
in the cliemical industry. I have seen the j)roduct issue from their 
works in quantities amounting to tons at a time, which, when it has 
gone tlirougli tlie ordinar}^ processes of washing and drj' ing, and has 
been subjected to tests, lias sliown such exceptional purity that tlie 
results obtained with 1.88 grams of the material would vary from 
100 per cent by not so much as would be indicated by one droj) of one- 
fifth normal alkali solution. This, while it ma}' not be so clear to the 
lay mind, is something that will be accepted by fhe professional chem- 
ist as being very remarkable. The two cream of tartar manufacturers 
follow practically the same processes and obtain similar results. 

The Chairman. One of those was the factory where Dr. Wiley got 
samples? 

Dr. McMurtrie. Dr. Wiley obtained in my presence samples of 
cream of tartar such as described and made in exactlj^ the way 
indicated. 

The sample which Dr. Wiley obtained was taken from a batch which 
amounted to probably so much as 2 tons, which constituted the 
result of a single operation ; and while I do not know absolutely, I 
may say from experience with regard to such material that it will not 
vary appreciably' from a test of 100 per cent. 

That is tlie kind of material which is used in the manufacture of 
baking powders by the companies 1 have named. They have made 
the struggle to secure material of tliis high grade of purity, and they 
have forced the manufacturers of the other ingredients used in their 
product to supply them with materials of the same high degree of 
purit}^, and as a consequence their product leaves nothing to be desired 
in the way of purity, of healthf ulness, and of wholesomeness. 

Senator Foster. They make only one grade of the article? 

Dr. McMurtrie. Only one grade of baking powder — the highest 
attainable. 

I maj' say with regard to the reaction developed in the use of the 
cream of tartar baking powder in the production of bread that the 
cream of tartar, which is the acid constituent reacting Avith the bicar- 
bonate of soda, or baking soda, which is the alkaline constituent, lib- 
erates from the bicarbonate of soda carbon dioxide, or carbonic acid, 
in the form of gas, and leaves as a residue in the bread sodium potas- 
sium tartrate. 

This compound, when it enters the animal system, particularly the 
human system, with food, is disposed of in the process of digestion in 
exactly the same way as other vegetable substances of like character, 
and is digested in exactly the same way as sugar. 

The tartaric-acid radical is broken up into carbonic acid and water, 
in the same way that sugar is broken up. The alkaline radical takes 
part in the process of assimilation; it passes into the blood, supply- 
ing the necessary alkaline constituents thereof; it is eliminated by the 
kidneys in the normal exercise of their functions, and it tends, there- 
fore, to correct any unfavorable acidity which may occur in the fluids 
of the body. 

I am stating this fact rather as a chemist than as a phj^siologist, 
although it is accepted by the highest and best medical and physio- 
logical authorities of the world. The quantity of the tartrates which 
may be ingested thus in food is of course somewhat variable, but the 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 595 

amount which is found in the ordinary loaf of bread made with cream 
of tartar baking powder will be equivalent to about that contained 
in a pound and a half of good ripe grapes. And it would seem, there- 
fore, that no furtlier statement would l)e needed regarding- the health- 
fulness and wholesomeness and value of such a substance as a food 
product. 

If, on the other hand, we pass over to the other classes of baking-pow- 
ders, we find that there are two or more, but that which is most widely 
distributed in the markets of the United States has for its acid con- 
stituent alum of one kind or another. 

In the markets of the United States and of the world we find prin- 
cipally three of the alums which have been used for such purpose. 
The first is known as potassium alum, which the chemists recognize 
and name as the double sulphate of aluminum and potassium; 
second, ammonium alum, which is Known by the chemists as tlie 
double sulphate of aluminum and ammonium, less expensive than 
the first; and the soda alum, or double sulphate of aluminum and 
sodium, less expensive than either. 

The last-named compound is that now most largely used in the 
manufacture of alum baking powder. It is rarely offered even to the 
manufacturers of baking powder as alum, and by manj^ of the manu- 
facturers of the cheaper grades of baking powder is not known as such 
at all. It is labeled, offered, and billed generally, and most largely, 
as "C. T. S.," which are the initials for "Cream of tartar substitute." 
It is offered to manufacturers who do not employ chemists; who them- 
selves have no knowledge of cheniistry; who have no opportunity to 
know what is the composition and value of this product except as it is 
declared to them by the manufacturer. 

The manufacturers of alum baking powder, as a rule, know nothing 
of the strength of this product, and the larger proportion of these 
manufacturers will admit that in their manufacture they are guided 
entirely, regarding its strength and use, by the manufacturer of the 
product; that they are told that this has the capacity to neutralize and 
use up so much baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, and in accordance 
with such direction they use it in the manufacture of their powders. 

Now, this is true with regard to this substance, that in order to have 
a product which corresponds exactly with the theoretical composition 
of sodium aluminum sulj)hate the greatest care must be exercised in 
the manufacture. 

The alum is in'odueed by making, first, aluminum sulphate. This 
is done bj^ treating a mineral known as bauxite, after it has been projj- 
erly heated to render the iron compounds insoluble, with sulphuric acid 
(oil of vitriol) . The solution thus obtained is brought, by evaporation, if 
necessary, to the proper concentration of density, and it is then mixed 
with a solution of soda, made frequently and perhaps generail}^ from 
salt cake, a refuse or by-product from the manufacture of muriatic 
acid. 

The solution obtained, containing now the aluminum sulphate and 
the sodium sulphate, when brought to the proper degree of concen- 
tration, is, hot or warm, inclosed in proper vessels, in which it is 
allowed to cool. During cooling crj^stallizatiou ensues, and the two 
substances i)ut into the solution crystallize together, forming what is 
known as soda alum. 

This alum is made i\\) not onlj^ of these two constituents, but its 
crystallization requires that it shall take up a considerable quantity 
of water (we call it water of crystallization) necessary to the forma- 



596 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

tion of the crystal. To get rid of this water of crystallization, the 
manufacturer, after breaking up the crystals, subjects them to heat; 
the water is driven off and a porous mass remains, and this, because 
of the process through which it has passed, is known as "burnt alum." 

This burnt alnm, when pulverized, constitutes the alum which is 
used in the baking-powder manufacture. It generally happens in 
this manufacture that tlie acid constituent or acid radical of the com- 
pound is in some measure driven off by the heat required to produce 
the proper degree of burning, and we therefore have in the finished 
product uncombined or only j)artially saturated alumina. 

It can be readily understood, therefore, that the product obtained 
in this way has not and can not well have a constant composition. It 
does not and can not well have a constant neutralizing power, as it is 
known — that is, its power to decompose the bicarbonate of soda when 
it is used in baking iDOwder must be variable. It is readily under- 
stood, therefore, why the manufacturer of the alum should, with each 
lot that he sends to his customer, indicate what is its neutralizing 
power, and we can understand why the manufacturer of baking pow- 
der who is ignorant of these qualities must accept what the alum 
manufacturer tells him, and we can also readily understand whj'- the 
baking powder made must have uncertain and variable composition. 

This leads us, then, to the consideration of the reaction which takes 
place when alum baking powder is used in the production of bread. 

The alum baking powder, as has been stated repeatedly to the com- 
mittee, consists of a mixture of alum, which I have described, of 
bicarbonate of soda, or what is known as ordinary baking soda, with 
about 60 per cent of starch. 

When this baking powder is brought into contact with water, either 
by itself or in admixture with flour, and the mass is cold, compara- 
tively little action occurs. As heat is applied the alum and the 
bicarbonate of soda acting upon each other enter into a. double decom- 
position. The sodium constituent of the bicarbonate of soda takes 
the place of the aluminum in the alum. In this action the carbon 
dioxide or carbonic acid is liberated, and, if we ma}^ believe what some 
of the chemists say, the aluminum is liberated and set free in the form of 
aluminum hydroxide and all of the sodium of the bicarbonate of soda 
is changed into the condition of sodium sulphate, which, as you will 
remember, is one of the constituents likewise of the soda alum. 

We then have a product of this reaction, carbon dioxide, which is 
liberated and passes off. We have remaining in the bread the solid 
residue, namely, the sodium sulphate and an aluminum compound. 

There are good authorities who believe, and with reason, that the 
reaction between alum and bicarbonate of soda is never complete; 
that it is impossible for bicarbonate of soda under any conditions to 
effect the complete decomposition of this peculiar compound of 
alumina, and that, therefore, particularly in the conditions occurring 
in the process of baking bread made with the alum baking powder, 
there mustalwaj's remain in the finished bread a certain proportion at 
least of unchanged alum. Whether it exists as unchanged alum or 
as a peculiar basic compound of aluminum is indifferent, because 
when these indeterminate substances, together with the aluminum 
hydroxide which is undoubtedly produced, are brought into contact 
or admixture with weak acids they are properly brought into solution ; 
in fact, they are readily soluble in weak acids, and they produce the 
salts of alumina. 

The salts of alumina, when in solution in presence of sodium sul- 



ADULTERATIOIS' OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 597 

phate, undergo a change; the constituents of all the compounds in 
solutions suffer redistribution, as it were, and we know that in all such 
redistributions all conij)Ounds that are possible from the constituents 
present are jiroduced. 

It is manifest, therefore, to the chemist and must be manifest to 
the lay mind that when aluminum sulphate ijroduced, as it must be, 
in this way is in solution with sodium suli^hate, these constituents 
exist in the solution in ever}* respect in the same wa}' as does soda 
alum in solution, and in view of the fact that the contents of the 
stomach in digestion contain acids of various sorts, particulai-ly liydr«)- 
chloric acid, secreted with the gastric juice, particularlj" lactic acid 
and butyrix acids, almost invariably jiroduced in the process of 
digestion, the conditions of solution which I have described must 
always exist in the stomach during the jDrocess of digestion of bread 
which has been made Avith an alum baking powder and has l)een 
digested with other food. Therefore, all of the medicinal and thera- 
peutic influences ascribed to alum bj" the medical fraternity, pharma- 
cologists, therapeutists, and physiologists must obtain in the stomach 
during the process of digestion of such bread made with the alum 
baking powder; there is no choice to intelligent men, and thej" must 
believe that this substance which is accepted by the medical f raternitj' 
to be an astringent to have an influence upon the mucous surfaces, 
constricting the parts, interfering with the secretion of the natural 
fluids through them, must be injurious to the consumer, and must be 
prejudicial to health. 

It is said that the aluminum hj-droxide in the bread is insoluble, 
has been ]'endered insoluble in the reaction occurring in the process 
of baking, and it has been denied that alum or any soluble alumina 
compound can exist in the bread. 

This, however, has been i^roven by able chemists to be incorrect, in 
view of the fact that when bread which has been made with alum 
baking powder is extracted with cold water, the water solution evapo- 
rates and tlie organic matters or carbon compounds are properly 
destroyed, so that they may have no influence whatever upon the 
tests to be applied, the presence of alumina or of aluminum com- 
pounds is undoubtedly revealed when proper tests are applied. 

Soluble alumina compounds and free alum, therefore, do exist in 
bread made with alum baking powder, and whether from the bread 
itself, or whether from the result of the reactions occurring in the 
stomach, the system must be subjected to the action of these solul^le 
alumina compounds when such bread is consumed. 

Now, whether these soluble alumina compounds are compounds of 
the so-called inorganic acids, such as hydrochloric acid and sulphuric 
acid, or whether thej'^ have been produced by the so-called organic 
acids, such as the lactic acid, butyric acid, and so forth, occurring in 
•the stomach during the jjrocess of digestion, or whether they occur in 
combination with the ]3roducts of digestion, they are in condition to 
act on the mucous surfaces of the digestive tract in all respects in the 
same yvay as alum, or to be absorbed from the alimentary tract into 
the blood and enter the circulation. 

When they enter the circulation we have the word of Professor 
Kobert, of Dorpat, German}', the leading authority in toxicologj^ in 
the world, that they are i)oisonous. Discussing the experimental 
results achieved by Dr. Sieni, he declares that the alumina compounds 
in the blood, and j)ractically irrespective of the combination in which 
they are found there, have a distinctly toxic action upon the animal 



598 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

system. Not only he but others have found that wlien these alumina 
compounds are taken into the sj^stem they may be found in the princi- 
pal organs, as the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, and even the brain, 
while Dr. Robert indicates that the tendency of the alumina salts is 
particularly directed, in the brain, to the region of the medulla, which, 
I believe, is accepted by the neurologists to be the most sensitive part. 

Dr. Kobert has further shown that these alumina compounds in 
their toxic action are very slow; that after introduction in the blood 
it often happens that no sjnnptoms are observed for several daj's, 
when intense nervous disturbance occurs, showing that the nervous 
system jDarticularly may be very decidedlj' affected by the introduc- 
tion of those compounds. 

We have been told that when these alumina compounds are ingested 
with the food they are entirely inert; that they pass through the ali- 
mentary tract and are thrown oft' with the solid excreta. It has been 
stated by the same authorities that even if the alumina were talcen 
into the blood it Avould be excreted through the kidnej-s completely, 
and that it could therefore do no harm. But we note that, these same 
authorities observed exceeding care to make no determination of the 
amounts of alumina excreted through the faeces and the urine ; nor do 
tliey endeavor by such means to establish a balance between the 
amount of alumina or aluminum comj)ounds ingested with the food 
and the amount excreted in the f?eces and urine. 

That analysis showed no alumina ejected or passing out through 
either the urine or the excrement. 

The Chairman. Did you read the evidence given by Dr. Austin 
before the committee? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. I did. 

I listened carefuU}^ to the evidence of Dr. Smith and Dr. Flint in 
New York on that subject, upon the results of whose experiments the 
declarations of Dr. Austin were based; and I found that these gentle- 
men declared, both in the direct and in the ei'oss examination, that 
they knew absolutely notiiing with regard to the disposition of the 
aluminum compounds in the body when ingested with the food; that 
they knew absolutely nothing with regard to the amount of the 
alumina that was ingested; that they were unable, therefore, to say 
whether the alumina passed througli the alimentary tract unacted 
upon and inert, whether it went into the blood and tlie circulation, 
and, if it did go into the blood and into the circulation, whether it 
would be wholly excreted or whether it would remain deposited in 
the organs as a distributing and injurious element. 

When we study these various organs and their functions we learn 
that they exercise their functions largely b}^ the operation of diffu- 
sion, and when we study the operation of tlie diffusion upon the 
aluminum compounds we find that while in man}' cases the acid rad- 
ical of the aluminum compound will pass througli the dialj^zing mem- 
brane, the aluminum constituent will be left behind; and because of 
this difficult diffusibility of the aluminum compounds, they will not 
pass through the organs in the exercise of their functions with the 
same rapidity that other substances do — like the salts of potassium 
and sodium, for instance — but remain in these organs, and the 
repeated periodical ingestion of the aluminum compounds would 
induce such an accumulation as to interfere seriously with the proper 
exercise of the functions of the organs. 

It has been stated by high medical authoritj^ — it was stnted, I 
believe, by Dr. Flint in the evidence referred to — that alum exercises 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 599 

an astringent influence in the human body, astringent first upon the 
mucous surfaces, astringent further when carried by the blood 
through the different organs. 

It is found in the later pharmaceutical authorities in the United 
States, and particularly in tlie United States Pliarinacop(eia, copied 
from the German Pharmacopceia, that alumina — that is, the alum- 
inum hydrate — is described as a medical agent and as an astringent. 

We further know that in the dialj'sis of the aluminum compounds 
the aluminum compound left behind in the process is aluminum 
hj'drate. It would, of course, be bej'ond my province to say as a phys- 
iologist that the aluminum hydrate that might be produced, for 
instance, in the kidneys AA^ould have an astringent and constricting 
action upon the cells of the kidnej^s; but it would seem reasonable to 
suppose that if aluminum lijxlroxide is an astringent under an3' cir- 
cumstances, it would be an astringent then. 

So that it necessarily follows that when the aluminum compounds 
are used as food they must have, and do have, an injurious and dele- 
terious influence upon the sj^stem. 

Furthermore, we know, as chemists, that no compound of aluminum 
is ever found in the natural food of either vegetable or animal origin. 
I may say that it is never found in any flowering plant. It has been 
stated that alumina compounds have been found in wheat. I believe 
there is only one recorded statement to that effect in all the thou- 
sands of analyses of that cereal which have been jiublished. It was 
made by a chemist of Japan. To my knowledge he does not state 
liow the wheat was harvested or how it was thrashed; whether b^^the 
modern and improved methods or by the ancient methods in which 
the grain is trampled out under the feet of animals on the ground; 
and there is opportunity^ for very reasonable doubt whether the 
alumina which he said existed in the wheat was there as a proper and 
physiological constituent of the wheat or whether it was adventitious 
and was attached to the outside of the grain and obtained from the 
ground. 

It has been stated further that aluminum compounds exist in pota- 
ble waters in quantities sufficient to be taken into account in the 
consideration of this question. I venture to say that in no proper 
potable water containing, as it should, in certain quantities at least, 
the carbonates of the alkalies and tlie alkali earths, is it possible for 
alumina or its compounds to exist in appreciable quantities. 

It was stated by Dr. Flint, and likewise by Dr. Smith, the persons 
referred to by Dr. Austin in his testimony before this bod}^, that in 
the examinations of bread which had been made with alum, or con- 
taining alum, it was the rule of certain public anatysts of England to 
make a correction of a grain and a half per jjound of bread, to corre- 
spond with the alumina in the water used, in determining the amount 
of alum which had been added ; but it seems to me that if we look a 
little into the facts of the case it would appear that in order that the 
amount of alum, which they say exist in the loaf and is obtained 
from the natural water used in making the loaf, could be possible, we 
should find that in something less than a pint of water there would 
be at least a grain and a half of alum. Now, that piut of water 
weighs, as I remember it, in the neighborhood of 7,000 grains, so that 
we should have in this water one and a half parts of "alum in 7,000 
parts. 

I have taken occasion to make inquiry among chemical experts Avho 
have had largely to do with the examination of potable waters in the 



60U ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

United States, and I have found them to declare that in all their 
experience in the examination of natural potable waters they have 
failed to find alumina in such waters in quantities exceeding one to 
two and never more than three parts i^er million; and that it could 
be detected only by the application. of the utmost care and by the 
most delicate of all tests. 

It has been stated, further, in the evidence which has been brought 
before you that the alum baking powders are so much less exj)ensive 
than the cream of tartar baking jiowders. 

The Chairmax. That was one of the points made by Dr. Austin. 
He said there were millions of dollars saved in one State alone — I 
think he said 13,000,000 in the State of Georgia. That question is 
not really before the committee ; but it having been stated bj'^ him, it 
is only fair that you should be permitted to reply to it. 

Dr. McMURTRiE. At least it is proper that you should be set right 
upon it, if that were necessar^^ . 

In the first i^lace, consider the intrinsic value of the two classes of 
powders. The cream of tartar x)owder yields 14 per cent of leavening 
gas and is of undoubted healthf ulness and wholesomeness. The alum 
powders, on the other hand, yield at most from 7 to 8 per cent of leav- 
ening gas and are unhealthful and unwholesome. Hence, as regards 
leavening power, the latter have only about GO per cent of the value 
of the former and are worse than worthless on the score of healthf ill- 
ness. The tartrate powders cost, at most, at retail 45 cents a pound, 
and 1 pound is equivalent in leavening power to 14- pounds of the 
ordinary alum powder, or 1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar powder is 
equivalent to 1^ teaspoonfuls of alum powder. We have, then, a cost 
of 45 cents against, sa}", 15 cents, if we place the price of the alum 
powder at 10 cents a pound. This differs widely from the ratio of $2 
to 10 cents, reckoned by Dr. Austin, and in truth the conditions 
become practically reversed. 

The alum used in the manufacture of these cheap baking powders 
costs no more than .3^ cents a pound. 

The Chairman. Per jDound of baking powder? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. No; 3| cents a pound of tlie alum that is in it. 
For the materials it contains, the pound of baking powder costs less 
than 2 cents. 

The Chairman. I think he said tliat there was a saving of some- 
thing like $3,000,000 in one State. 

Senator Foster. In the amount of baking powder sold in one State 
in one year? 

The Chairman. I think so. 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. Even taking the exaggerated figures put forth in 
the claims of the alum baking-powder manufacturers, this would be 
equal to one-tliird of the amount paid by consumers for all the alum 
baking j^owder made and sold annually in the whole country. The 
population of Georgia does not exceed 2,000,000. Tiierefore the gross 
inaccuracy of Dr. Austin's statement is too plain to render further 
comment necessary. 

I think I have stated that after the most careful consideration, the 
use of alum in any form is absolutely' prohibited in England, France, 
and Germany. 

Senator Foster. In any quantitj^? 

Dr. McMurtrie. In any quantity, in any food. And this was done 
only after the most careful consideration of the subject and its most 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 601 

thorough discussion. That discussion is obtainable by anybody who 
desires to loolc into the literature of the subject. 

It has been further stated that the literature relating to the health- 
fulness or unhealthfulness of alum M'hen used in food is limited; but 
it is readily determined, throug'li ofticial publications, that it has been 
the subject of careful consideration b}' the various governmental 
authorities; by the authorities of States; by the boards of health; by 
the food commissioners and by other bodies constituted for the pur- 
pose of the study of this question ; and I venture to say that in no case 
has the use of alum in food ever been indorsed by such authorities. 

There is possibly another i^oint to which I might call your attention 
in this connection, which is not exactly a professional point, yet it is 
a point that one has constant occasion to recognize in the trade — that 
those who are offering baking powders made Avith alum are very care- 
ful that the packages which they offer shall bear no indication of the 
contents of the package. 

The Chairman. We have had sami)les of them before the commit- 
tee very fully. They try to make them appear in many cases to be 
cream of tartar, and only put "alum" on them when State legisla- 
tures compel them to put it on. That is matter of common notorietj^ 
in the trade and has been fully developed before this committee. 

Senator Foster. This "C. T. S." — is not that rather misleading? 

The Chairman. Yes. 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. It is intended to be so. 

The Chairman. Dr. Wile}- testified that in going into the grocery 
stores in New York, calling for and pajdng for cream of tartar, he 
received cream of tartar substitutes, and I think he said that out of 
half a dozen samples onlv one of them contained anv cream of tartar 
at all. 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. His experience there maj^ be duplicated in other 
States and cities. 

The Chairman. Let me make an inquiry of you on another sub- 
ject. We have had under discussion here the question of carl)onated 
wines. I wonder whether in the course of your professional experience 
you have had any occasion to investigate the matter of wines. The 
American makers of wine who ferment the wine in the bottles claim 
that that is champagne, and that if it is not fermented in the bottle 
it is not champagne. On the other hand, representatives of other 
leading manufacturers of wine appeared here before the committee 
within a day or two and testified that they carbonated their wine; 
that they took a good wine, prepared it carefully by filtration, and 
then j)ut into it a carbonic-acid gas which was imported from Ger- 
many. 

Senator Foster. From the Apolinaris Springs. 

The Chairman. From the Apolinaris Springs — gathered from the 
springs themselves and injected into this wine. In other words, it 
may be said to be artificially charged with carbonic-acid gas, or to be 
carbonized wine. Have you had an}' experience. Dr. McMurtrie, in 
those matters which you would l)e willing to tell the committee? 

Dr. McMurtrie. I have made a ver}^ careful study of the manu- 
facture of wine in France and in this country, and have given a good 
deal of attention to the manufacture of champagne wines. At one 
time I made a very careful study of the manufacture of champagne 
wine on its native heath, as it were, in the neighborhood of Epernay, 
in France. I visited there one of the oldest makers of champagne, 
one who had learned the art from his father, avIio, in turn, had learned 



602 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

the art from his father, and it had come down by way of tradition, as 
it were. 

I learned there that the wine was made in this way: The grapes 
from the vineyard were ver}' carefully selected. The juice from the 
grapes was obtained by pressing-. The clean juice was then put into 
vessels for fermentation. The fermentation was carried on to a cer- 
tain extent until the wine maker recognized by his experience that it 
had gone far enough. The vessel containing the partly finished wine 
was then carried from an upper cellar, which had an ordinarily cool 
temperature, to a lower cellar, probably 50 or GO feet underground. 
Here the temperature was uniform, at about 55 degrees. The fer- 
mentation, which was very active in the warmer cellar above, was 
reduced, practically stopped, in the cooler cellar below. Here, how- 
ever, a slow fermentation goes on for some time, and is j)eculiar to 
that class of wine. 

After the wine becomes clear it is put into bottles, and the slow fer- 
mentation is allowed to continue in the bottle. By very dexterous 
manipulation everj^thing which may tend to cloud the wine settles to 
the stopper, and in the further process of manufacture I maj^ say that 
in order that it maybe brought down upon the stopper the bottle is 
each d^y turned a bit, jolted, until finally everything that is solid is 
brought against the stopper. 

By ver}^ de;Xterous manipulation the stopper is removed and the 
sediment that has come to it is blown out, so that nothing but clear 
wine remains. Then the bottle, before it is closed, has added to it 
sometimes some of the finest cane sugar, if that should be necessary, 
and the bottle is again stoppered. 

The bottles may then be removed to a warmer cellar, and here a 
fermentation again sets u]), witli the production of carbonic-acid gas 
or carbon dioxide, and of course the gas becomes condensed or rather 
compressed under the pressure that is produced by the gradual increase 
of its volume, and the wine therefore becomes charged. This process of 
fermentation is pursued most successfully by the legitimate American 
champagne manufacturers. 

The Chairman. Who are the legitimate American champagne manu- 
facturers; that is, those who pursue the natural method of fermenta- 
tion in the bottles. 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. There are, I think, five legitimate champagne 
manufacturers in the United States, who are making chamxpagne wines 
equal to any produced in the Avorld. They are the Pleasant Valley 
Companj^, The Brotherhood Company, Cook's Imperial Company, The 
Urbana Comj)any, and the Lake Keuka Company. These companies 
have developed an enormous American industry through adopting 
the natural metliod of fermenting in the bottle. 

Now, I believe it has been generally accepted that in this process of 
fermentation certain peculiar ethers are formed — possibl}^ ethereal 
carbonates — which, when the bottle is opened and the pressure removed, 
undergo a slow^ decomposition, with a continuous liberation of carbonic- 
acid gas; and it is true that a wine that is not seriously cooled \\'ill 
continue this liberation of gas for a long time after it is opened, and 
this gives the exceedingly pleasant quality to a wine made in this 
way. In other words, the wine, after being opened, does not quickly 
become flat and dead. 

If, on the other hand, the wine is produced by the quick fermenta- 
tion and is cleared bj- the ordinary methods of producing a still wine, 
and the wine is then bottled and charged with carbonic-acid gas, if 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 603 

the wine be strongly cooled, when it is opened it will continue to give 
off the gas for some considerable time. This will last as long as the 
wine is cold; but if the wine should become warmed at all— to the tem- 
perature of the ordinary room, say 05° — the gas is liberated very rap- 
idl}^ and the wine verj' quickly becomes flat. 

I maj' illustrate this by an experience that I had in this cellar I have 
spoken of. The proprietor was very kind to me. I went to him with 
?« letter of introduction, and he offered me the hospitality of his house. 
He took me through his cellars that were cut in the chalk rock — verj^ 
large and spacious cellars — and as we went through we gathered sam- 
ples of wine produced in different years and came back to the house 
well laden with these samples. 

All these samples, possibly a dozen or more, were opened and tested. 
It seemed to me peculiar, when we were through, that the host should 
return the stopper to the bottle, and still more strange, as we started out 
to go through the vinej'ards again, that he should gather these bottles 
together and put them on the shelf in the closet, saying, "We'll try 
them again," I felt that we should have an opportunity to taste some 
rather dead wine. 

Nothing further was said that day. Next morning we made a tour 
of the vineyards, and on coming back to the house he said, "By the 
way, let us try the wine again," and when he took these bottles and 
put them on the table it was only necessarj^ for him to twist the stop- 
per with his thumb a little bit to have that stopper go against the 
ceiling. 

Now, if that had been wine that had been artificially charged with 
carbonic-acid gas, I venture to saj' that if that stopper had been 
returned to the bottle and the wine had been tried in a half hour after 
the stopper had been returned it would have required a very consid- 
erable effort to remove it. Of course we enjoy champagne because of 
the presence of the carbonic-acid gases liberated, because of the ethers 
that undergo decomposition become volatile and give to the wine its 
bouquet. Therefore the wine is valuable. 

The Chairman. Can you jjroduce that effect by artificial carbon- 
izing ? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. That can not be produced by artificial carboniza- 
tion. Therefore the artificiality-carbonated wine has by no means the 
value, in my opinion, that the wine made by natural processes has. 

I have heard it stated that the unfermented juice of the graj)e is 
offered and suggested as a valuable product, as a wine product. Of 
course an unfermented juice is not wine. An unfermented grape 
juice which is preserved bj^ carbon dioxide under pressure, without 
an}^ question in my mind, is preserved by the most desirable agent 
available, and I have no doubt that the unfermented juice wdiich is 
preserved in this way will be — to me it would be — very much i^leas- 
anter than that preserved by the ordinary methods of pasteurization 
or by the use of other preservatives. 

The Chairman. Of acids? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. Of acids of various kinds. 

The Chairman. Did j^ou ever hear of their importing this gas from 
the springs in Germany? 

Dr. McMuRTRiE. I do not know anything about that. I should 
imagine that in view of the comparatively low cost of carbonic acid 
of very high quality in this country it would be impossible as a trade 
proposition to bring it in. We have in this country the carbonic acid 
produced either directly b}^ compression or that which issues from the 



604 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

springs, as is done in the neighborliood of Saratoga, or that which is 
produced by the heating or ignition of the limestone in retorts. We 
have also now in this country that produced from the process of fer- 
mentation in the manufacture of beer and spirits; and the carbonic 
acid from either of these sources would be eminently suited, I think, 
to any carbonating process; and it can be produced at such low cost 
that I doubt wdiether the trade would admit of the imijortation of the 
product from any other country. 

The Chairman. I think that is all we desire to ask, Dr. McMurtrie, 
and the committee is much obliged to you. 

The committee adjourned. 



TESTIMONY OF DR. WALTER M. FLEMING. 

Dr. Walter M. Fleming, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. Please state j-our residence and in'ofession. 

Dr. Fleming. I reside in New York Cit}', and am a physician. 

The Chairman. Where did you take your course in medicine? 

Dr. Fleming. At the Albanj' Medical College, from which I was 
graduated in 1862. 

The Chairman. For the purposes of our record, I will ask you to 
state, if you Avill, some of the societies to which you belong, without 
troubling you to name them all. 

Dr. Fleming. I am a member of the New York Count}^ Medical 
Society and of the Medico-Legal Society. I am physician to the 
Mutual Aid Association, and for twenty-four years have been a quali- 
fied examiner in lunacy for the superior court of tlie city of New 
York. 

The Chairman. The committee desires to obtain the opinions of 
disinterested physicians and scientists in regard to the use of alum in 
baking powders. Will you kindly give us the benefit of your opinion? 

Dr. Fleming. I regard the use of sulphate of aluminum, or the 
alum of commerce, in baking powders, or in any way utilized for 
bread or any baked breadstuffs, as injurious in several ways: First, 
it solidifies or hardens the gluten of the flour, it impairs the digestion, 
it induces constipation, and excessive use of it produces visceral 
inflammation and enteritis, resulting in hemorrhoidal signets. It 
Avill also embarrass the genito-urinal functions, i)roducing functional 
derangement of the action of the kidnej^s and bladder, likely to result 
in strangury as a sequel. 

The commercial use of this drug in breadstuffs is almost criminal, 
and it should be condemned and expunged totally from food, even if 
special legislation be invoked to that end. 



TESTIMONY OF DR. WILLIAM R. KERR. 

Dr. William R. Kerr, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and profession. 

Dr. Kerr. I reside in the city of Chicago, and am a physician by 
profession. 

The Chairman. I desire to ask your opinion with reference to a 
subject that has come before this committee in connection with the 
investigation of the question of jjure foods, namely, the use of alum 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 605 

in baking powders. Will you please state what your opinion is on 
that subject? 

Dr. Kerr. During my iirofessional experience, and particularly 
while health officer of the city of Chicago, 111., my attention was on 
numerous occasions called to the use of sulphate of aluminum, or 
alum, in food stuffs, particularly in baking powders, and the deleteri- 
ous effect of its use upon health. 

From the various analyses presented for my inspection, and the 
results of its use ujjon the human system, brought to my attention, I 
am satisfied that it is extremely injurious. First, it impairs diges- 
tion; is an excessive irritant; produces many forms of disorders upon 
the digestive organs; precipitates constipation and impairs the action 
of the kidneys and bladder. I regard it as an insidious cumulative 
poison, and believe that its continued use will eventually become a 
menace to life itself. 

I am heartily in favor of the enactment of legislation prohibiting 
its use and making the violation of a law to that effect a felony, punish- 
able by fine and imprisonment. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. H. A. WEBER. 

The following affidavit, in the form of a letter, duly sworn to and 
attested, was received and ordered to be incorporated in the printed 
testimony : 

[H. A. Weber, professor of agricultural chemistry, Ohio State University, 1342 Forsyth avenue.] 

Columbus, Ohio, January 15, 1900. 
Hon. William E. Mason, Chairman, 

Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: In response to your message, I have the honor to submit 
the following opinion in regard to alum baking powder: 

It is well known that alum is generally used in the manufacture of 
the cheap brands of baking powder to be found upon our markets. 
For example, during the summer of 1887 the Ohio State dairy and 
food commission collected 36 different brands of baking powder and 
submitted them to me foi analysis. The}' were found to consisf, of 
three classes of powders. The classes and the number of brands in 
each class are as follows: 

1. Cream of tartar baking powder - 8 

2. Phosphatic baking powder . - - 2 

3. Alum baking powder . - - . 20 

It may be stated in this connection that the amount of carbon dioxide 
evolved from the third class was onl}^ about one-half of the amount 
evolved by the other two, so that, in order to obtain the same results, 
nearl.y twice as much alum baking powder would have to be used as 
either of the other two classes. 

The objections to the use of alum in baking powders, from a sanitaiy 
point of view, are: 

1. Baking powders containing alum introduce into our food a new 
element to which the human system has not been accustomed. Alu- 
minum compounds do not occur in either the vegetable or animal mat- 
ters which are the source of food for man. 

2. Alum is a drug of well-known astringent property. In sufficient 
quantity it produces constipation, and for this reason its indiscrimi- 
nate use in our food must be regarded as a menace to health. 



606 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

3. Alum forms insoluble compounds with albuminoids. It precipi- 
tates the ferments necessary to digestion and makes them inactive, 
and is thus directly oi:)posed to process of nutrition. 

The claim that in a baking powder tliese deleterious properties of 
alum are destroyed owing to the decomposition of the alum by the 
sodium bicarbonate and the formation of insoluble and inert oxide of 
aluminum (Al^Og) is untenable. The resuk of the decomposition is 
not aluminium oxide, but aluminum hydroxide. Al2(H O)^. This 
hydroxide is in itself a mild astringent, but it is really soluble in 
dilute acid and consequently in the juice of the stomach. The salt 
thus formed acts in all respects as the alum itself. 

4. In the decomposition of the alum during the process of cooking 
sodium sulphate (Glauber's salts) is formed. This salt is extreraelj^ 
bitter and imparts its bitter taste to the food prepared by the use of 
alum baking powder and makes it unpalatable. Unpalatable food 
of any kind seriously interferes with the process of digestion, since it 
checks ths secretion of the digestive fluids. 

H. A. Weber. 

Sworn to and subscribed in iiay presence by the said H. A. AVeber 
this 15th day of January, A. D. 1900. 

[seal.] Charles S. M. Krumm, 

Notary Puhlic, Franlclin Countfj, Ohio. 

The following statements were received and ordered printed with 
the testimony' : 

STATEMENTS OF DEPUTY SUEG. GEN. CHARLES SMART, UNITED 
STATES ARMY, AND SURG. GEN. GEORGE M. STERNBERG, UNITED 
STATES ARMY. 

Surgeon-General's Office, 
Washington, D. C, January 16, 1900. 

Some years ago, when on duty with the National Board of Health, I 
made an examination of a number of articles of food with a view to 
determine the prevalence of harmful adulterations. Two series of 
samples of each article were examined, one series derived from sources 
from which purity might be expected, and the other from sources 
which might be presumed to jaeld low-grade if not adulterated goods. 
No alum was found in 58 sampler of flour, 30 of which belonged to the 
first series and 28 to the second; but of 18 samples of bread belonging 
to the second series 8 contained alum. In 12 baking jDowders of the 
first series there was no alum, but of 6 samples purchased in stores 
frequented by the poorer classes of the community, 5 were alum 
powders. 

It is well known that alum is a powerful astringent, which would 
speedily have harmful effects if it were taken into the human sj^stem 
as alum. That some of it may be taken into the system in this form, 
by the use of alum baking powders, through carelessness in kneading, 
or great excess of alum in the powder, is among the possibilities to be 
remembered in considering this subject. 

But it is well known also that the reaction which takes place be- 
tween the sodium bicarbonate and the alum, in kneading the baking 
powder into the dough, destroys the alum by precipitating the insol- 
uble aluminum hydrate, while some of the phosphates of the flour are 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. (i07 

throwu down in combination witli alumina. The hydrate and plios- 
phate of alumina are considered by some to be insoluble in the gastric* 
juices, and consequently to be inert. By others they are held to inter- 
fere with the digestibility of the bread and of other articles of food 
in the stomach. It is difficult to connect dyspi.^psia in tlie human 
subject with the use of alum baking powders, but many laboratory 
experiments have been performed which support the view that diges- 
tion is impaired by the presence in the stomach' of the substances 
formed during the decomposition of the alum. 

I consider tliat the public health would be improved by tlie sub- 
stitution of bitartrate baking powders for alum powders, and by the 
exclusion of alum from bread and all bread-making materials. 

No alum powder is furnished to the Armj^ by the Subsistence 
Department. 

Chas. Smart, 
Lieut. Col. and Deputy Surgeo7i- Gene red, U. S. Arnnj. 

I concur in the views of Lieutenant-Colonel Smart as expressed 
above. 

George M. Sternberg, 

Surgeon- Ge)ier(d U. S. Army. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S. Senate, 

Washington, D. C. , January 20, 1900. 

TESTIMONY OF PROF. CHARLES EDWARD MUNROE. 

Prof. Charles Edward Munroe, sworn and examined. 

The Chairman. Please state what your profession is. 

Professor Munroe. lam professor of chemistry in the Columbian 
University. 

The Chairman. In Washington? 

Professor MuNROE. Yes. 

The Chairman. This committee is investigating the subject of pure 
foods. One branch of the subject is as to what food is so adulterated 
as to be deleterious to public health; the other branch relates to that 
class of foods that are sophisticated, cheapened, but not necessarily 
dangerous to iDublic healtli. We wish to ask you a few questions on 
these subjects. Preliminarily, perhaps, it would be well, for the pur- 
poses of the record, if you would be good enough to state what your 
experience has been in the line of the subjects which I have indicated. 

Professor Munroe. My experience as a chemist is as follows: I 
was graduated as a Bachelor of Science in Harvard University in 1871; 
I taught chemistry in Harvard University until 1874; I was professor 
of chemistry at the United States Naval Academj' from 1874 to 188(3; 
I w^as chemist at the United States Torpedo Station and War College 
from 188(3 to 1892; I have been i^rofessor of chemistry since that time 
in the Columbian University. 

AVliile at Harvard Universitj' I was engaged hy the State board of 
health of Massachusetts in the examination of foods for adulterations. 
I liave been engaged upon many sanitary problems. At the request 
of the American Public Health Association, I have made investigations 
upon the use of cotton-seed oil as food, and throughout my career, 



608 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

although I have been a teacher of general chemistry, I have lieen Inter- 
'csted in the chemistry of foods. 

The Chairman. The committee has been requested to call several 
gentlemen of 3^)ur profession or physicians to ask more particularly 
as to one item regarding which there has been some considerable dis- 
pute — that of baking powder. I will therefore ask you what your ojiin- 
ion is as to tlie use of alum in baking powder or for food generally? 

Professor Munroe. I am of the opinion that tlie most wholesome 
method of converting flour into bread is through the process of fer- 
mentation. I have found that the aeration of bread by that means 
has prodviced a palatable and wholesome product, as in the use of 
carbonic-acid gas in solution with water in the making of aerated 
bread, Avhicli I have eaten largely. 

I regard the use of baking powders as of secondary value to that of 
fermentation in the raising of bread. However, the ease and readi- 
ness with which they may be emj)loyed lead to their being largely 
demanded for use. 

I believe that in regard to the introduction of any material as a food 
we should be guided largely by the indications of nature and that we 
should not introduce a foreign bod^^ which does not appear naturally 
in the vegetable or animal organism. 

The use of cream of tartar is indicated from the fact that the tar- 
trates occur naturally in vegetation. The use of phosphates is indi- 
cated by the fact that phosphates occur in animal and vegetable 
organisms. The use of aluminum salts is not so indicated. 

I have examined many hundreds, or perha^DS thousands, of analyses 
from time to time as I have read the literature of animal and vege- 
table material, but rarely have found that aluminum was present in 
any, and in the cases in which it was present it was not shown that 
it was not present accidentally. 

The Chairman. By aluminum j^ou mean alum? 

Professor Munroe. I will get to that point in a moment. 

This is the more remarkable in that according to the best estimates 
aluminum is the third element in rank in abundance of all the ele- 
ments that constitute the earth, its atmosphere (its aqueous and its 
aerial atmosphere). As a constituent of clay and of other minerals 
it occurs widely disseminated through the soil in which vegetation 
grows, and yet nature selects calcium, iron, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 
sulphur, sodium, and potassium — quite a large number of elements — 
but it rejects aluminum. 

Therefore I say that it has seemed to me (and in the past I have 
so held) that this indicates that aluminum does not properly enter 
into animal and vegetable organisms. 

In the use of aluminum in the form of alum, which is one of the 
salts of aluminum, we have a substance which has been found by 
experiment to be poisonous. The aluminum sulphates and the alumi- 
num acetates are mentioned in the Avorks on toxicology as having 
produced a toxic effect upon the human system. 

The Chairman. When you say "toxic," what do you mean? 

Professor Munroe. Poisonous. In experiments made with salts 
of alumina upon rabbits, pigs, and other animals, i3oisoning has been 
accomplished by the administration of about one grain per pound of 
the aluminum salts; that is, it is laid down in the books at fifteen 
one-hundredths of a gram to a kilogram of the body weighed. In 
these cases the aluminum compounds were soluble. 

In the making of baking powders in which aluminum salts are used 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 609 

it is held that the reaction between the ahim and the bread soda 
causes the formation of aluminum hj^droxide and of sodium sulphate, 
and that the aluminum hydroxide is insoluble, and therefore will not 
produce the effect of a poison. 

It is well known that while this aluminum hydroxide is but slightlj^ 
soluble in water, it is soluble in lactic acid and acetic acid, that is, 
in organic acids, some of which may occur in the stomach, having 
been produced during the processes of digestion, and that though the 
material is introduced in what is regarded as an insoluble condition, 
it is redissolved when it enters into the stomach. I have therefore 
believed that the alum product in the bread is capable under these 
circumstances of exerting a harmful effect. In any regard I hold that 
where a substance is introduced for use as an article of food which 
has been found to have harmful effects in any quantity, the burden 
of proof that in moderate and repeated doses it does not interfere with 
the normal operation of the human organism lies with the introducers, 
and that the most complete assurance should be given by them before 
the material is used. 

That is a general statement of my views on the subject. 

The Chairman. We are much indebted to you. Professor, for your 
attendance. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. M. F. CUTHBERT. 

Dr. M. F. CuTHBERT, sworn and examiu 

The Chairman. You are in general practice as a physician here? 

Dr. CuTHBERT. Yes. 

The Chairman. From what school were you graduated? 

Dr. CUTHBERT. From the Columbian University. 

The Chairman. You have heard the statement made here this 
morning by Professor Munroe? 

Dr. CUTHBERT. Yes. 

The Chairman. This committee has been requested to ask the opin- 
ion of some physicians and scientific men here in Washington as to 
the advisability of the use of alum as an article of food, or in baking 
powder with whicli to make bread. We should like to have your 
opinion on that subject. You have no interest in the baking-powder 
business, I suppose? 

Dr. CuTHBERT. None whatever. 

The Chairman. What is your opinion about alum as an article of 
food? 

Dr. CUTHBERT. It is a subject that I have not studied to any par- 
ticular extent nor been particularly interested in, from a chemical 
standpoint. But it seems to be the consensus of opinion that alum, 
wliich is used in these powders, when administered for any great 
length of time has a deleterious effect on the human body by its astrin- 
gent properties. It is only in very large doses that it has a toxic or 
poisonous eft'ect, but by the long-continued administration of a min- 
eral astringent it is supposed to influence the digestion in anything 
but the best way. 

The Chairman. You speak now simply as professional men fre- 
quently do, from the ojjinions of others that you have read and studied 
and also from your own knowledge of the fact that alum is an astringent? 

Dr. Cuthbert. Entirely so. My practical knowledge is limited 
F p 39 



610 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

merely to its use as an astringent in medicine. We use it for medici- 
nal purposes, as an astringent in hemorrhages, and other things. We 
know that it is an astringent. That is admitted. 

The Chairman, Basing your judgment upon your own experience 
and consensus of opinion of men in your profession, what would you 
say as to the use of alum? 

Dr. CUTHBERT. That its continued administration is harmful. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. WILLIAM C. WOODWARD. 

Dr. William C. Woodward, sworn and examined: 

The Chairman. Please state your profession and residence. 

Dr. Woodward. I am a physician by profession, and hold at 
present the office of health officer of the District of Columbia, I 
reside in Washington, D. C. 

The Chairman. You have no interest in this baking-powder ques- 
tion as to which j'ou have heard the examination here this morning? 

Dr. Woodward. None whatever. 

The Chairman. You do not manufacture baking powder or own or 
hold any stock in any of the companies that do manufacture it? 

Dr. Woodward. No, sir. 

The Chairman, You have no doubt heard the questions that I pro- 
I)Ounded to the other gentlemen here this morning. I desire briefly 
to get the opinions of medical gentlemen ujion that subject, having 
been requested to get those opinions for the use of the committee. I 
will ask you the same question that I asked Professor Munroe and Dr. 
Cuthburt. What is your opinion with regard to the use of alum in 
baking powders? 

Dr. Woodward. I may state that I heard the testimony of Pro- 
fessor Munroe, and I agree with the line of reasoning laid down by 
him. It is a subject that must be dealt with largely theoretically. 
Professor Munroe is acquainted with the practical chemical aspects of 
the question and I am not, so that any opinion that I might express 
here would necessarily be based on the testimony of such men as Pro- 
fessor Munroe and others engaged in the same line of work as to the 
reactions which occur in the use of alum baking powder. 

Of course it is understood that tlie effort of the manufacturers of 
these powders is that there shall be no alum as such appear in the 
bread — that is, that if it aj)pears it shall appear in some more or less 
harmless compound, as he has stated — aluminum hydroxide. So that 
any statement as to the effect of alum, pure and simple — what the 
chemist or phj^sician knows as alum — does not necessarily apply, 
although in the careless manufacture of baking powder of this sort it 
is possible that alum may appear in the bread. 

The use of alum in large quantities is certainly causative of toxic 
effects — vomiting, if used in sufficiently large quantities, if vomiting 
be permitted ; and if vomiting be not permitted, of inflammation of 
the stomach and intestines, and consequent death, if the dose be suffi- 
ciently large. None of these symptoms are, of course, apparent in 
the use of small doses, so that any conclusions as to the use of alum 
in very small doses must be more or less the result of reasoning rather 
than of actual exj)erience. 

We know that any astringent, of which ordinary alum is one, will 
cause a diminution of the secretion of any mucous membrane such as 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 611 

lines the stomach, and therefore would cause an interference with 
digestion and therefore with assimilation in the human body; and 
when we take into consideration the fact that bread is eaten in large 
quantities not only by adults, who might be able to withstand such 
interference, but by children, I think we might safely say that the 
use of any such ingredient (alum, pure and simple) should be for- 
bidden. 

When it comes to its use in baking powders, the problem is more 
difficult. 'The statement that any ingredient introduced into the 
organism which is not an essential part of it is harmful is of course 
a matcer of reasoning, a matter of theory; and the most that can be 
said in such case is, as I think Professor Munroe has laid down, that 
the burden of proof should be on the other party to prove that this 
foreign element will not do harm. 

In the presence of good substitutes and effective means of niaking 
baking powders that are free from this objection, it would seem that 
in the light of further evidence there should be some steps taken either 
to secure such evidence or forbid the use of alum in that way. 

If it were a problem of doing without baking powder or using alum 
it would be different, but no harm except possibly the lack of cheap- 
ness w^ould result. Of course, in the case of parents who elect to buy 
cheap foods, the Government has an interest — has an interest in the 
welfare of the children which the parents have not. So that it has an 
interest in the use of baking powders pending another investigation 
or an investigation by those interested in such products. 

I will say, however, that I have never seen nor heard of any specific 
case in which injurious effects have been traced to the use of alum in 
bread or in baking powder. 

The Chairman. You have had no case fall in your vcny in the course 
of your practice? 

Dr. Woodward. Neither in my practice nor in the line of my duties 
as health officer or as coroner, which office I filled for a time here. 

Senator Foster. What effect do you think would come from the 
continued use of alum in baking powders? 

Dr. Woodward. If the alum were neutralized so that the resulting 
compounds would be the sulphate of soda and the hydroxide of alumi- 
num, we would expect, if the quantity of sulphate of soda used were 
sufficient, to have some stimulation of the secretion of urine and a 
slightlj^ aperient effect. In minute doses there would be no evidence 
of those effects that could be determined except by careful measure- 
ments. The effect of the ingestion of small amounts of aluminum 
hydroxide I am unable to state. They maybe dissolved by the juices 
of the stomach and taken into the system or they may not. In either 
case I am unable to say what the probable effect would be. 

The Chairman. It would depend upon whether the soda would 
neutralize the alum in making the carbonic-acid gas? 

Dr. Woodward. Yes. 

The Chairman. But if the residuum left was aluminum you would 
not recommend it? 

Dr. Woodward. Well, there would be necessarily some aluminum 
left. We refer to alumina as hydroxide of aluminum; alum we refer 
to as a salt. I do not know" of any definite investigation that will 
show the harmful effects of what is left. Chemists may be able to 
trace it. 



612 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



TESTIMONY OF DE. W. M. MEW. 

Dr. W. M. Mew, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. Please state your position, Dr. Mew. 

Dr. Mew. I am chemist to the Army Medical Department. 

The Chairman. That is to say, the Army Medical Department of 
the Government of the United States? 

Dr. Mew. Yes. 

The Chairman. How long have you been engaged in the profession 
of chemistry? 

Dr. Mew. Twenty-seven years. 

The Chairman. Did you practice medicine during any part of the 
time? 

Dr. Mew. Yes. 

The Chairman. You have heard the questions put to Professor 
Munroe and the other gentlemen here this morning. I was urged to 
obtain the opinions of prominent medical or scientific men in Wash- 
ington upon the question of baking powders. The committee has 
been engaged on other subjects, aild the subject of baking powder 
was finally reached. At the request of the manufacturers, I was 
anxious to obtain the opinions of a number of scientific gentlemen. 

Dr. Mew. The manufacturers of the alum powders? 

The Chairman. No; of the other powders. The alum powders had 
their representatives here — that is to say. Professor Austen was here 
and testified that he had been employed by them to make some scien- 
tific experiments. You have no interest, of course, in the business of 
baking powders? 

Dr. Mew. None whatever. 

The Chairman. We should like to have the opinions of unbiased 
gentlemen of scientific knowledge on this subject, and that is why we 
asked you to come before the committee. From your experience and 
professional knowledge, what do you say as to the use of alum in 
baking powders? 

Dr. Mew. In general terms I should say that it is objectionable, 
although the proof of its being objectionable is not so apparent as it 
might be. There is one thing — for instance, there is the aluminum 
hydroxide, of which Dr. Woodward was speaking just now. It is 
quite uncertain whether that will ever go into solution again after 
getting into the stomach. Ordinarily it is practically an insoluble 
substance. It may, however, in the human laboratory again go into 
solution — possibly. If it does, it may do harm ; but there is no evi- 
dence that it does. I know of no evidence that it does. 

The Chairman. None has been brought to your knowledge? 

Dr. Mew. None. 

The Chairman. Then would you recommend the use of alum? 

Dr. Mew. I would not recommend it, just on the principle that 
there is a possibility of its doing harm. Then, in the experiments in 
the physiological laborator}^ we find that many albuminous sub- 
stances are precipitated — that is to sa}^ products of digestion are 
precipitated by very minute doses of some of the products of that 
decomposition which goes on in the work of baking powder, the work 
of vesication. 

Take the sodium sulphate, for instance. In artificial digestion m 
the test tubes and laboratory we find that a very small quantity of it 
will retard digestion; that salt enters largely into the products of this 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 613 

change which goes on in the liberation of carbonic-acid gas. Now, 
that is merely a possibilit3^ I do not say that it does so, but there is 
the possibility; and inasmuch as there are possibilities, perhaps 
probabilities, of some harm being done, it is better not to use the 
thing — better to use, bj^ all odds, the tartrate powders. That would 
be my advice. 

In the Arm}' we have never used the alum powders at all. There 
has not been an attempt to foist one upon us for twenty years, because 
those who would send them there know that they would not pass 
muster. 

Senator Foster. All alum powders would be rejected? 

Dr. Mew. Yes; both for the Regular Army use and for the Com- 
missar}'- Department. 

The Chairman. Do you think of anything further. Dr. Mew, that 
you would like to say to the committee? 

Dr. Mew. I do not. Of course much of those points brought up 
are more or less hyi30thetical, problemetical. There has been verj^ 
little physiological work done upon them, and that is the ultimate 
analysis — the physiological test. 

Senator Foster. You look upon it as probable that there are great 
exaggerations in these matters where there is so much competition? 

Dr. Mew. Beyond a doubt. It may be said, too, that if there should 
be a little excess of alum in the compound, and it should get into the 
stomach in the free state, it would do harm, no doubt, as an astringent; 
but the chances are even that there might be an excess of that or of the 
other element. That they should be precisely balanced would be 
highly improbable. 

TESTIMONY OF PROF. EMILE A. DE SCHWEINITZ. 

Prof. Emile a. de Schweinitz, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. What is your profession? 

Professor de Schweinitz. I am a chemist and bacteriologist. 

The Chairman. Where are you practicing? 

Professor de Schweinitz. I am connected with the Department of 
Agriculture and have charge of the work of the chemical and bacteri- 
ological school of the Bureau of Animal Industry. 

The Chairman. Then you are connected with the office of the Sec- 
retary of Agriculture? 

Professor de Schweinitz. Yes. 

The Chairman. How long have you been a chemist? 

Professor de Schweinitz. I have made that my profession since I 
was a boy. 

The Chairman. How long is it since you were graduated? 

Professor de Schweinitz. I was graduated in the University of 
North Carolina and in the University of Gottingen, in Germanj^; I 
was graduated from Gottingen in 1889, I think; I will not be positive 
about the exact time. I came to Washington shortly after I came 
back from Germany. 

The Chairman. You have been actively engaged in your profession 
ever since you were a young man? 

Professor DE Schweinitz. Yes. 

The Chairman. How long have you been in the Agricultural 
Department? 

Professor de Schweinitz. Since 1890, I think. 

The Chairman. This committee has been for some time engaged in 



61-1 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 

investigating the subject of the manufacture of food products, and 
Dr. Wiley, of your Department, has been with us a good deal. I 
instructed the sergeant-at-arms of the committee to call in a few 
scientific gentlemen, physicians and chemists, to give the committee 
the benefit of their opinions with regard to the question of baking 
powders, having been requested to get disinterested witnesses in that 
subject. You have no connection, I suppose, with any of those 
baking-powder companies? 

Professor de Schweinitz. None whatever. 

The Chairman. Either the alum companies or the tartar companies? 

Professor de Schweinitz. None whatever. 

The Chairman. You have no interest in the matter one way or the 
other? 

Professor de Schweinitz. No. 

The Chairman. Please state to the committee what your opinion is 
in regard to the use of alum in baking powders. 

Professor de Schweinitz. I have heard the testimony of both Dr. 
Mew and Dr. Woodward and agree generally with what they say. 
Theoretically, of course, I would say that alum is injurious in food, 
although, as already pointed out, the residue in the bread after baking 
is in all probability aluminiim hydrate, although there may on occa- 
sion be a little aluminum sulphate, and it is a question whether or 
not the aluminum hydrate is dissolved by the gastric juice or the acids 
of the stomach. In a great many cases it certainly is not; in other 
cases it might be. As Dr. Mew said, so far as the physiological experi- 
ments go, there has been practically no evidence to sliow that alum in 
baking powder did any harm. But, as I heard Professor Munroe say, 
the burden of proof lies on the side of those who favor the use of 
alum. It may, however, be very much like the use of borax and 
boracic acid. As you know, there has been a great hue and cry made, 
especially by Germany, in regard to the use of borax and boracic acid 
in preserving meat sent abroad. As a matter of fact, the work done 
from a physiological standpoint has proven as conclusively as such 
work can prove that borax and boracic acid are perfectly liarmless. 
At the same time, j^ou would not recommend their use. So, theoret- 
ically^, it may be said to be injurious. 

The Chairman. But you say you would not recommend its use? 

Professor de Schweinitz. I would not recommend its use ; no, sir. 

The Chairman. English firms, when ordering meat from our people, 
call for boraxed meat. Your opinion is that it is as healthy as salt, 
or what is your opinion on that subject? 

Professor de Schweinitz. The most recent work done, from a physi- 
ological standpoint, has been done in Germany by a man named Lieb- 
reich; and his work has shown conclusively that there is more irritation 
caused by salt than there is bj' borax or boracic acid. Of course that 
would have to be verified by somebody else. You would never accept 
the testimony of one man on work of that sort. 

The Chairman. Had you read the testimonj^ taken before this com- 
mittee, you would find that there have been some very thorough tests 
made. The. committee is obliged to you. Professor, for your attend- 
ance. 

TESTIMONY OF DR. JOSEPH TABER JOHNSON. 

Dr. Joseph Taber Johnson, sworn and examined : 

The Chairman. Please state your residence and i^rofession. 

Dr. Johnson. My residence is No. 924 Seventeenth street, Washing- 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 615 

ton, D. C. I am a physician and surgeon. I have been a professor 
of gynecology and abdominal surgery for twenty-five years. 

The Chairman. IIow long have you been engaged in your profes- 
sion altogether, Doctor? 

Dr. Johnson. Since 1865 here in Washington; afterwards at Belle- 
vue, in New York City, and after that in Vienna. I am a professor 
in the Georgetown University. 

The Chairman. I have been requested to call in some leading phy- 
sicians and scientific gentlemen who are disinterested upon the ques- 
tion of the use of alum as a food or to be mixed in bread or baking 
powder. The committee will be much obliged to you if you will give 
us the benefit of your opinion on that subject. 

Dr. Johnson. I am not a chemist or an expert on that subject and 
have never given any scientific examination to those matters, so that 
I can only speak from a practical standpoint. 

The Chairman. As a physician? 

Dr. Johnson. As a physician. 

The Chairman. That is what we wanted ; that is what we called 
you for. 

Dr. Johnson. I should say from mj^ knowledge of alum and its 
effects and uses that if it got into bread or baking powder and was in 
that way introduced into the system, its effect would be injurious. 
If taken in homoepathic doses I do not know that it would have very 
injurious effects. 

The Chairman. If its use were continued in homoepathic doses, 
would it or would it not have an injurious effect? 

Dr. Johnson. Its cumulative effect? If a person used a little of it, 
it might not do any harm unless he got a little more of it in one place 
than another, but its continued use would have an injurious effect 
upon the digestion, and would injure the powers of the stomach in 
the digestion of food. In its chemical action it has an injurious effect 
on the gastric juice, and the gastric juice is what we depend on to 
digest albuminous substances in the stomach. We could tak-e arsenic 
or strychnine in very small does for a short time and it acts as a tonic, 
but continuously it would be bad. 

The Chairman. Continued in small doses it would be dangerous? 

Dr. Johnson. It would be dangerous, yes. 



Committee on Manufactures, U. S Senate, 

Washington, D. C, January 22, 1900. 
The following statement was received and ordered printed with the 
testimony : 

STATEMENT OF SURG. GEN. W. K. VAN REYFEN, UNITED STATES 

NAVY. 

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 

Navy Department, 

Washington, D. C, January 20, 1900. 

Dear Sir : Referring to your request for a report from this Bureau 

as to the deleterious effect of alum as a constituent of baking powder, 

I would state that there can be no question that the alums (sulphate 

of alumina and ammonia and sulphate of alumina and potassa) fre- 



616 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

quentlj^ entering into the composition of baking powders are seriously 
injurious to the digestive sj-stem, producing a train of symj)toms that 
characterize clironic dyspepsia. After all the testimony that has been 
before the public on this point for manj^ years, the use of these cheap 
baking powders continues, and it is very evident that nothing but 
legislative action will do away with the evil. 
Yours, very truly, 

W. K. Van Reypen, 
'•Surgeon- General U^iited States Navy. 
The Chairman U. S. Senate Committee on Manufactures. • 



Committee on Manufactures, U, S. Senate, 

Washington, D. C. , January 25, 1900. 
The following statement was received and ordered printed with the 
testimony : 

STATEMENT OF SUPERVISING SURG. GEN. WALTER WYMAN, 
MARINE-HOSPITAL SERVICE. 

Treasury Department, 
Office of the Supervising Surgeon-General, 

Marine-Hospital Service, 
Washington, D. C, January 24, 1900. 
Sir : Referring to your request for an expression of opinion as- to the 
use of alum in breadstuffs, and particularly baking powders, I have 
to state that alum (sulijhate of aluminum and an alkali) applied 
locally to a mucous membrane is both astringent and irritant. It 
should, therefore, not be used in food i)roducts, such as baking pow- 
ders, especially in view of the fact that there are other substances not 
injurious to health having all the necessary properties of a good baking 
powder. 

Baking powders containing alum are not issued by the Marine- 
Hospital Service. The medical purvej^or of the service has been 
instructed by the director of our hj^gienic laboratorj'^, with my con- 
currence, to examine and refuse the purchase of baking powders and 
flour containing alum. 

Respectfully, Walter Wyman, 

Supervising Surgeon- General, M. H. S. 
Senator William E. Mason, 

Chairman Senate Committee on Manufactures, 

Washington, D. C. 



ADULTEEATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 017 

CoiVtMITTEE ON MANUFACTURES, 

United States Senate, 
Was/migton, D. 61, Jcmuary W^ 1900. 
The chairman submitted the following, which were ordered printed 
with the testimony: 

AFFIDAVIT OF PEOF. W. A. WITHEKS. 

Raleigh, N. C, January '2 Ji.., 1900. 
Hon. William E. Mason, 

CJiairrnan- VomDiittee on Ihire Foods., United States Senate. 

Sir: In response to j^our telegram I have the honor to say that 
examinations were made by the North Carolina agricultural experi- 
ment station, under nw direction, of twenty -four samples of baking 
powders, which were collected in the State at Raleigh, Statesyille, 
Durham, Henderson, and Wilmington by the representatiyes of the 
station. These samples were purchased in the open market, and no 
attempt wais made to secure any particular brand or class of powders. 

Two of the samples were tartrate powders, prepared in New York, 
two were phosphate powders, prepared in Rhode Island, and the 
remaining twenty samples contained alum. One of these was an alum . 
and tartrate powder prepared in Virginia and containing practicalh' 
no ayailable carbonic acid. Six samples were alum and phosphate 
powders, two being prepared in Maryland, two in New York, and .two 
in Virginia. One of these contained practically no ayailable carbonic 
acid, anothei" less than 3 per cent, and another less than 4 per cent. 
Thirteen were straight alum powders, three being prepared in Geor- 
gia, one in Kentucky, three in Maryland, two in New York, two in 
North Carolina, and four in Virginia. 

Based upon these experiments, it is my opinion that alum baking 
powders are used to a yery large extent, and that their manufacture 
is not confined to any particular State or section. 

The experiments of others indicate that the adyisabilit}" of using 
alum baking powders is yery questionable to say the least. If the 
alum baking powder manufacturers are convinced as to the healthful- 
ness of their product they should not object to a law requiring manufac- 
turers to state on each package of powder the class to which it belongs. 
Such a law, I believe, would be eminentlj^ proper and desirable. 
Very respectfully, 

W. A. Withers, 
CJiemisty North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. 

State of North Carolina, Wahe County: 

Personally appeared before me W. A. Withers, chemist of the North 
Carolina Experiment Station, and made oath that the foregoing state- 
ments (two pages) were true to the best of his knowledge and belief. 

Witness my hand and seal this Sttth day of January, A. D. 1900. 

SEAL.] J. M. Fix, 

Notary Public. 



618 A.DULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



STATEMENT OF DK. H. B. CORNWALL. 

[From a publication issued by the American Grocer Publishing Company, 143 Chambers street, New 
York City, verified by a letter from Dr. Cornwall to the chairman of this committee.] 

More evidence against the use of alinn in baking powders might 
have been presented, but would have been of a similar nature to that 
which has already been given. In the writer's opinion the presence of 
alum in baking powder is objectionable, since under certain conditions 
it may exert an injurious effect on the digestion. The effects may not 
be very marked in the case of any individual consumer, but that they 
can be induced to a greater or less extent seems to be well established. 

Since it is evident that some of the alum baking powders are so pre- 
pared as to increase the extent of any injurious effect, owing to the 
mixture of ingredients whose combination can not be justified on any 
grounds, it is recommended that a special and more thorough exami- 
nation of such be made with a view to preventing their manufacture. 

H. B. Cornwall, Ph. D., 
Professor of Chemistry^ Prmceton^ N. J., Tlnmersity^ 

Chemist for the State. 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF PROFESSOR WILLIS G. TUCKER. 

[From a publication issued by the American Grocer Publishing Company, verified by a letter from 
the professor to the chairman of this committee.] 

I am of the opinion that the employment of alum in bread making, 
including its use in baking powders, is highly objectionable, for 1 
believe it to be decidedly injurious when used as a constituent of food 
articles. 

In many countries the use of alum for such purposes is prohibited 
by law, and sanitarians generall}^ regard it as a fraudulent and dele- 
terious addition to bread and as a harmful adulterant in baking powders. 
Liebig, Hassall, Blyth, Smith, Bell, Church, and many other chemists, 
sanitarians, and physiologists have condemned the use of the alum on 
the ground that it hardens the gluten of the flour, hindering its solution 
by the gastric juice, and retarding digestion. 

The fact should never be lost sight of that alum is used b}" unscrupu- 
lous bakers solel}" for the purpose of giving to bread made from inferior 
and vui wholesome ff'our a better appearance, and that it is employed in 
the manufacture of baking powder without regard to its effect, solely 
because it is cheap, and that since the best bread can be made without 
its use, and cream of tartar baking powders are infinitely better and 
in all respects unobjectionable, the use of alum is entirely without 
excuse; but, much more than this, if it is harmful, diminishing the 
dietetic value of the food into which it enters, and interfering with the 
process of digestion, as I believe it does, its use is to be severely 
condemned. 

This is a matter of importance to all, and especially to those whose 
digestion is already enfeebled, as in the case of dyspeptics, for with 
such the use of alum preparations may give rise to grave disorders. 
Willis G. Tucker, M. D. , Ph. D., 

Albany^ W. Zi, Medical College., 
Chemist New York State Board of Health. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 619 



STATEMENT OF PEOFESSOR JOHN HOWARD APPLETON. 

[From a publication issued by the Araeriean Grocer Publishing Company, verified by a communi- 
cation from Professor Brown to the chairman of this committee.] 

I believe that the use of bread made with alum baking- powder 
results in the introduction into the system of aluminous compounds 
that produce painful and serious disturbances of the digestive 
functions. 

Of course, then, alum is altogether unsuitable and objectionable as 
a constituent of baking powder. 

In all ordinary cases, however, the consumer is personally unable to 
protect himself from the insidious form of injur}' to which, in cases 
like that referred to, he may be subjected. His only recourse, as a 
means of defense, seems to be in statutory legislation, whereby the 
manufacture and sale of such deleterious articles shall be effectively 
forbidden. 

John Howard Appleton, 
Professoi' of Cheinistry^ Brown Zmlvci'sity ^ Providence^ R. I. 



Committee on Manufactures, 
• United States Senate, 

Wednesday^ January 30, 1900. 
The chairman submitted the following, which were ordered to be 
embodied in the testimony: 

STATEMENT OF MEDICAL DIRECTOR A. F. PRICE, UNITED STATES 

NAVY. 

United States Naval Hospital, 

Washington, D. C. , January 27, 1900. 
Dear Sir: Your favor of the 26th instant at hand, and in reply I have 
to say that I have had no practical experience in the use of alum in 
baking powders, but I am decidedl}' of opinion that cream of tartar 
is relatively harmless, compared with alum. 

I think that the daily use of alum, even in small quantities, would 
have an injurious astringent effect. 

Very truly, yours, A. F. Price, 

Medical Director, United States Navy. 
Wm. E. Mason, Esq., 

Chairman of the Committee on Investigation of Pure Food. 

STATEMENT OF ASSISTANT SURGEON GEORGE F. FREEMAN, 
UNITED STATES NAVY. 

United States Naval Hospital, 

Washington, D. C, January 28, 1900. 

Dear Sir: I consider the continued use of alum in baking powders 

injurious for the reason that some of the alum will remain and be taken 

into the stomach in a soluble form, most probably the hj^drate, and 

being soluble in the acid secretions of the stomach will interfere with 



620 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

the immediate gastric digestion, and the continued use will bring on a 
more chronic gastritis. 

I think that the use of alum baking powders should be prohibited 
by law; that all baking powders should have a label certifying that 
they are free from alum; that the use of alum by bakers should be pro- 
hibited by law; and that any breach of the law should be punishable 
by a suitable tine. 

Very respectfully, Geo. F. Freeman, 

Assistant Surgeon^ United States Na/cy. 

Hon. William E. Mason, 

Cliairman Senatorial Coinmittee on Pure Foods and 

Food Adidterations^ United States Senate^ Washington^ D. C. 



January 31, 1900. 
The chairman submitted the following, which were ordered embodied 
in the testimony: 

STATEMENT OF PROF. ALFRED FAIRHURST. 

Lexington, Ky. , January ^7, 1900. 
Dear Sir: Your letter requesting a statement from me with regard 
to the use of alum in food has been received. The pamphlet which 
you inclose contains, on page 10, a statement made by me several j^ears 
ago. That statement is, perhaps, as good as any I can now make, and 
therefore I deem an additional statement as superfluous. 

I am still of the opinion that the use of alum in baking powders 
should be prohibited by law. 

Respectfully, _ Alfred Fairhurst, 

Profe^ssor of Chemistry m Kentucky University. 
Hon. Wm. E. Mason, 

Washington., D. C. 

The following is the statement referred to by Professor Fairhurst 
in the foregoing letter, which statement is taken from a publication of 
the American Grocer Publishing Company : 

"The injurious effects, such as death, vomiting, constipation, etc., 
produced by alum and other soluble salts of aluminum, when taken 
into the stomach, are so familiar that I need not dwell upon them. 

"Although alum in a baking powder may be decomposed during the 
process of making bread, still the hydrate of alumina, which is soluble 
in the acids of the stomach, would be formed in the bread, and this I 
think would be injurious to health. 

"Alumina is not a constituent of the human body, nor are its com- 
pounds of any service to the body in performing its functions. 

"When they are absorbed into the blood they exist there simpty as 
foreign substances to be eliminated by the kidneys, thus throwing 
extra work upon them and by their irritant effects possibly causing 
the kidneys to become diseased. 

" I regard alum in baking powder as an adulteration injurious to the 
public health, and therefore as a crime against the public. I believe 
that its use for this purpose should be prohibited by a criminal law. 

"A. Fairhurst, 

'•'•Professor of Chemistry and Physiology in Kentucky University " 



ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 621 



STATEMENT OF PRESIDENT HENRY MORTON, OF STEVENS 
INSTITUTE, HOBOKEN, N. J. 

Dear Sir: In I'eply to your letter of the 26th, asking for m}^ opinion 
as to the use of '"baking powders" containing alum, I would say that 
though I have made many analyses of such baking powders I have not 
had occasion to study their physiological effects; but as a matter of 
information derived from the literature of the subject and the experi- 
ments of others, I am of the opinion that the use of alum in such pow- 
ders is objectionable and should be prevented, 
Yours, truly, 

Henry Morton. 

Hon. Wm. E. Mason. 



STATEMENT OF DR. C. A. CRAMPTON. 

Treasury Department, 
Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 

Washington^ D. 61, January 29^ 1900. 
Dear Sir: Replying to your circular letter of the 24th instant, I 
would say that my Adews upon the subject of the use of alum in bak- 
ing powders may be found in Part V, Bulletin No. 13, Department of 
Agriculture, prepared by me, a copy of which I send you herewith. 

I do not think that any testimony of value has been produced since 
the publication referred to, which contains a resume of the whole 
subject. 

My opinions as to the proper legislative measures to pursue in the 
regulation of the sale of baking powders are also set forth in the bulle- 
tin referred to, amounting practically to the requirement that all bak- 
ing powders bear labels showing the ingredients used in the manufac- 
ture, and the amount of each ingredient. The best way to bring this 
about would be, in ni}^ opinion, by means of a law placing an internal- 
revenue tax upon such products, following the lines of the present laws 
governing the sale of oleomargarine, mixed flour, etc. 

As the above statement is merely an expression of opinion, it seems 
hardly necessary to make it a sworn statement, as you request. 
Very respectfully, 

C. A. Crampton, 
Chief., Dwision of Chemistry. 
Hon. William E. Mason, 

Chai/rmoM Committee mi Inmestigation of Pure Foods., 

United States Senate. 

The following is the portion of Bulletin No. 13, Department of 
Agriculture, referred to in the foregoing letter of Dr. Crampton: 

the 'alum question." 

The literature upon the subject of the use of alum in baking powders, 
and upon the question as to its injurious effect upon the health of those 
who consume the bread made from it, is already quite extensive, and if 
quoted entire would fill a fair-sized volume. For the benefit of those 



622 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

who ma}^ desire to make an exhaustive study of it, I will make refer- 
ence to all of the articles bearing upon the subject that have come 
under my observation, as follows: 

Alum in baking powder, by Prof. E. G. Patrick. (Scientific American Supple- 
ment No. 185, 7, p. 2940.) 

Report of proceedings in the Norfolk baking-powder case (first trial) . (Analyst 4, 
p. 231.) 

Norfolk baking-powder case (second trial.) (Ibid., 5, p. 21.) 

Editorial comment on the case. (Ibid., 5, pp. 13 and 34.) 

On the action of alum in bread making, by J. West Knights. (Ibid., 5, p. 67.) 

Cereals and the products and accessories of flour and bread foods, by E. G. Love, 
Ph. D. (Second Annual Report State Board of Health of New York, 1882, p. 567.) 

On the solubility of alumina residues from baking powders, by Lucius Pitkin. 
(Journal American Chemical Society, 9, p. 27.) 

Experiments upon alum baking powders and the effects upon digestion of the resi- 
dues left therefrom in bread, by Prof. J. W. Mallet. (Chemical News, 58, pp. 276 
and 284.) 

As I have previously indicated, the matter of the physiological effect 
of the residues left by baking powders is not properly a chemical prob- 
lem. On accjount of the interest and importance attached to it, how- 
ever, it would seem necessary to give here somewhat of a resume of 
the subject without attempting to arrive at a deiinite conclusion, or to 
settle, arbitrarily, the question as to whether the sale of certain forms 
of powders should be prohibited. 

For a proper understanding of the alum question it is necessary to 
explain that the use of alum in bread making is prohibited in countries 
having food-adulteration laws, such as England and France. This is 
partly on account of its injurious effect upon the system, but princi- 
pally because of its peculiar action, not yet well understood, in improv- 
ing the color and appearance of the bread to which it has been added, 
so that a flour of inferior grade, or even partially spoiled, may be 
used to make bread which will look as well, to all appearances, as 
bread made from much better grades. 

Blyth ^ speaks as follows of this use of alum in bread: 

Alum is added to bad or slightly damaged flour by both the miller and the baker. 
Its action, according to Liebig, is to render insoluble gluten which has been made 
soluble by acetic or lactic acids developed in damp flour, and it hence stops the undue 
conversion of starch into dextrin or sugar. The influence of alum on health, in the 
small quantities in which it is usually added to bread, is very problematical, and 
rests upon theory more than observation. But notwithstanding the obscurity as to 
its action on the economy there can be no difference of opinion that it is a serious 
adulteration, and not to be permitted. 

Allen ^ says: 

Alum, or an equivalent preparation containing aluminum, is by far the most com- 
mon mineral adulterant of bread, though its use has greatly decreased of late years. 
Its action in increasing the whiteness and apparent quality of inferior flour is unques- 
tionable, though the cause of its influence has not been clearly ascertained. Whether 
there be sufficient fomidation for the statements made respecting the injurious effects 
of alumed bread on the system is still an open question. 

The following is from Hassall : ^ 

With reference to the use of alum, Dr. Dauglish has written: "Its effect on the sys- 
tem is that of a topical astringent on the surface of the alimentary canal, producing 
constipation and deranging the process of absorption. But its action in neutralizing 
the efficacy of the digestive solvents is by far the most important and unquestionable. 

1 Foods, Composition and Analysis, p. 168. 

^Commercial Organic Analysis, 1, p. 371. 

^ Food, its Adulterations, and the Methods for their Detection, p. 344. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS, 623 

The very purpose for which it is used by the baker is the prevention of those early 
stages of solution which spoil the color and lightness of the bread while it is being 
prepared, and which it does most effectually; but it does more than needed, for, 
while it prevents solution at a time that is not desirable, it also continuesits effects 
when taken into the stomach, and the consequence is that a large portion of the 
gluten and other valuable constituents of the flour are never properly dissolved, but 
pass through the alimentary canal without affording any nourishment whatever." 

The manufacturers of alum baking powders, however, claim that the 
hydrate of aluminum which is left in the residue is insoluble in the 
digestive juices, and therefore does not produce the effect which is 
attributed to the soluble forms of alum. Aluminum hydrate is insolu- 
ble in water, but readil}^ soluble in dilute acids, especially" when freshly 
precipitated. When heated it graduall}" loses its water of hydration, 
but does not part with it entirely short of a very high heat. When 
completely dehydrated it is insoluble even in dilute acid. It never 
reaches this condition in baked bread, in which the temperature proba- 
bly never, in the center of the loaf, at least, exceeds 100° C. 

Phosphate of aluminum is somewhat less soluble in dilute acids than 
the hydrate. In the Norfolk case an effort was made by the prosecu- 
tion to show that the soluble phosphates contained in the ash of flour 
combined with the alum to form phosphate of aluminum, thus render- 
ing them insoluble in the digestive juices, and depriving the flour of an 
important constituent, and considerable evidence was offered b}' the 
defense to show that this was not the case. Whether the addition to 
alum powders of sufficient acid phosphate to combine with the aluminum 
present as phosphate was the result of this discussion or not I can not 
sav, but it is certain that most of the alum powders now met with are 
made in this w^ay, so that if such a prosecution were to occur to-day the 
relative position of the parties would be reversed. It would be to the 
interest of the alum-powder makers to show that phosphate of aluminum 
is insoluble in the alimentary canal. The solubility of these compounds 
in water or dilute acids is, of course, a question readily answered b_v any 
chemist, but their solubilit}" in the complex and various alimentar}- fluids, 
and under the conditions of natural digestion in the human body, is 
quite another matter. As might be expected, the testimony which has 
been published upon this point is of the most conflicting character. ' 
Professor Patrick, experimenting upon cats, found little or no solution 
of hvdrate of aluminum. Professor Pitkin, experimenting with gas- 
tric juice obtained from a dog, found some solution, although he used 
phosphoric acid in his powder. Professor Mallet, using an artificial 
gastric juice, found some solution to occur, even with the phosphate, 
and considerably more with the h3^drate. It is not cliflicult to find rea- 
sons for such disagreement in results, for besides the various character 
of the solvents used and the difl'erent conditions prevailing, it is easy 
to see that even if the hydrate and phosphate of aluminum were them- 
selves entirely insoluble, more or less aluminum would escape the 
reaction, either from imperfect mixing of the powder in the dough or 
from improper proportioning of the different ingredients in the pow- 
der itself, so that it would go into the residue in the form of the original 
salt. With powders specially prepared, on the other hand, and very 
carefully mixed, and kneaded up thoroughly with the dough, it might 
be possible to find but a very little dissolved in the digestive fluids 
under certain conditions, even though the salts formed were slightly 
soluble in such fluids. 



624 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

From the various evidence that has been produced on both sides of 
the question, I think the following conclusions may be safely drawn: 

(1) That form of alum powder in which sufficient phosphate is added 
to combine with all the aluminum present is a better form, and less 
apt to bring- alum into the system than where alum alone is used. 

(2) It must be expected that small quantities, at least, of alum will 
be absorbed by the digestive fluids where any form of powder contain- 
ing it is used. 

(3) Whether the absorption of small quantities of alum into the 
human system would he productive of serious effects is still an open 
question, and one that careful physiological experiment alone can decide. 

As the experiments made by Professor Mallet are the most recent on 
this subject, I quote here his conclusions. I may say that most of 
those based upon purely chemical work I can indorse, having confirmed 
many in my own work, but I think the evidence furnished by his 
physiological work is hardly sufficient to justify his conclusions as to 
the harmfulness of such powders. 

GENERAL SUMMARY OP THE CONCLUSIONS REACHED.^ 

The main points which seem to be established by the experiments under discussion 
are, briefly stated, the following: 

(a) The greater part of the alum baking powders in the American market are 
made with alum, the acid phosphate of calcium, bicarbonate of sodium, and starch. 

(6) These powders, as found in retail trade, give off very different proportions of 
carbonic-acid gas, and therefore require to be used in different proportions with the 
same quantity of flour, some of the inferior powders in largely increased amount to 
produce the requisite porosity in bread. 

(c) In these powders there is generally present an excess of the alkaline ingredient, 
but this excess varies in amount, and there is sometimes found on the contrary an 
excess of acid material. 

{d) On moistening with water these powders, even when containing an excess of 
alkaline material, yield small quantities of aluminum and calcium in a soluble con- 
dition. 

(e) As a consequence of the common employment of calcium-acid phosphate along 
with alum in the manufacture of baking powders, these, after use in bread making, 
leave at any rate most of their aluminum in the form of phosphate. When alum 
alone is used the phosphate is replaced by hydroxide. 

(/) The temperature to which the interior of bread is exposed in baking does not 
exceed 212° F. 

(g) At the temperature of 212° F. neither the " water of combination" of alumi- 
num hydroxide nor the whole of the associated water of either this or the phos- 
phate is removed in baking bread containing these substances as residues from bak- 
ing powder. 

(h) In doses not very greatly exceeding such quantities as may be derived from 
bread as commonly used, aluminum hydroxide and phosphate produce, or produced 
in experiments upon myself, an inhibitory effect upon gastric digestion. 

(i) This effect is probably a consequence of the fact that a part of the aluminum 
unites with the acid of the gastric juice and is taken up into solution, while at the 
same time the remainder of the aluminum hydroxide or phosphate throws down in 
insoluble form the organic substance constituting the i">eptic ferment. 

(k) Partial precipitation in insoluble form of some of the organic matter of food 
may probably also be brought about by the presence of the aluminum compounds in 
question. 

(1.) From the general nature of the results obtained, the conclusion may fairly be 
deduced that not only alum itself but the residues which its use in baking powder 
leaves in bread can not be viewed as harmless, but must be ranked as objectionable, 
and should be avoided when the object aimed at is the production of wholesome 
bread. 

1 Chemical News, 58, 276; also published in pamphlet form. 



adulteration of food products. 625 

Committee on Manufactures, 
U^fITED States Senate, 

Tuesday, Fehruanj 6\ 1900. 
The chairman submitted the following, which were ordered printed 
with the testimony: 

STATEMENT OF ALBERT B. PRESCOTT. 

Ann Arbor, January 31^ 1900. . 

Dear Sir: In compliance with your request of January 24, 1900, I 
desire to present the following- statement. 

In testifying before j^our conmiittee, when sitting in Chicago last 
year, I said: 

At any rate, I am very sure that any baking powder containing alum, if allowed to 
be sold, should have the presence of the alum clearly stated on each package. 

In my present judgment, it would be well to prohibit the sale of 
baking powders or other articles of food to which alum has been added 
as soon as proper legal enactments can be reached in the course of 
regular legislation. This judgment is based partly upon the fact that 
alum and other aluminum salts are inherently injurious, actually poi- 
sonous to the system, so far as they gain admission to the circulation 
of the blood. Exact researches upon the effect of aluminum salts 
when they are introduced into the blood show that they cause 
degeneration of nervous and other tissues, acting slowly and insidi- 
ously in their course. Some extent of solubility of aluminum com- 
pounds and some degree of their absorption into the circulation will 
result from the general use of alum baking powders. In the measure 
of the same solubility the gluten-like parts of food are hardened, and 
the mucous coat is treated with an astringent. If the mucous coat be 
abraded introduction into the circulation is greatly increased. Gener- 
ally so little aluminum compound goes into solution in the stomach 
and so very little enters the circulation of the blood from the habit- 
ual use of alum baking powders that no observed effects are traced to 
this cause, nor can they easily be so traced at once. A slight addition 
of almost any poison can be made to food without harm being seen to 
come of it, as we do not see any movement of the hour hand of a 
clock. None the less, poisons should be legally excluded from food. 

Very respectfully submitted. 

Albert B. Prescott. 

Senator William E. Mason, 

Chairman of the Committee on the Investigation 

of Pure Foods., United States 8e7iate., Washington., D. C. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me at Ann Arbor, Mich. , this 3ist 
day of January, A. D. 1900. 

ZiNO P. King, 

Notary Puhlic, Washtenaw County., Mich. 

STATEMENT OF DR. WILLIAM W. JOHNSTON. 

February 3, 1900. 
Dear Sir: The chemists assert that when alum is used in bread 
making its action is uncertain, and that a certain amount of it often 
remains unchanged. If this is a fact, there can be no question of its 
deleterious influence. 
F p 40 



626 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

Alum is used in medical practice to contract the blood vessels of the 
stomach and mtestines, and to diminish the activity of the secretions. 
This effect when produced in a man in health necessarily interferes 
with digestion, and the long continuance of such effect will undoubt- 
edly produce disease. I therefore unqualitiedly unite with those who 
ask for such legislation as will forbid the use of alum for this purpose. 
Ver}^ respectfully, 

William W. Johnston, M. D. 

Hon. William E. Mason, 

Chairman Committee on Investigation of Pure Foods, 

United States Senate. 



STATEMENT OF PROF. C. F. CHANDLER. 

Columbia University, 

Department of Chemistry, 

Hev:) Yorlx\ January 30, 1900. 
My Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of January 26, I regret that 
it is entirely beyond my power to comply with your request, for the 
reason that I am so occupied at the present moment that I have not a 
minute to spare. Such a statement as you ask would require some 
considerable time in its preparation, and the matter is too serious for 
a hasty or careless statement on my part. I am entirely opposed to 
the use of alum in baking powders, and nothing would induce me to 
have it used in v^y family, but as it is a considerable length of time 
since I considered the subject, I have not the facts or arguments at 
hand for a proper treatment of the subject. 
Very truly, yours. 



C. F. Chandler. 



Hon. W. E. Mason, 

United States Senate, Washington, D. C 



TESTIMONY OF PROF. S. C. BTJSEY. 

154.5 1 Street NW., 
^¥asUngtoll, D. C, Fehruary 3, 1900. 

Hon. William E. Mason, 

Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: 1 am such an invalid that I can not attend to any matter 
that requires serious effort. 1 am not an expert in the chemistry of 
foods, but from what I have learned of, and my experience with, the 
internal use of alum, would regard it as a seriously injurious ingredi- 
ent in baking powders or food preparations of any kind, as well as in 
drinking water. 

I would take very great pleasure in giving any information in my 
knowledge to promote legislation to prevent the adulteration of 
foods, and, particularly the use of alum in baking powders or other 
food products, but I have no expert knowledge along such lines of 
information. 

Yours, very truly, S. C. Busey. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 627 

TESTIMONY OF JOHN C. WISE, MEDICAL INSPECTOR, UNITED 

STATES NAVY. 

1120 Vermont Avenue, 
Washington^ D. C. , February 5, 1900. 
Hon, Wm. E. Mason, 

United States Senate^ Wa.shington, D. C 

My Dear Sir: I take great pleasure in replying to j^our letter of 
January 26, in the interest of pure food, for 1 consider this line of 
investigation and legislation of incalculable importance, and in this 
regard our Government is much behind the advanced nations of 
Europe. 

I can not address you as an analyst, but rather as the hygienist and 
physician who has had to do with the health of large bodies of boys 
(apprentices) and men in the naval service, where the purity of the 
ration issued is guarded as carefully as possible. 

My experience has taught me just what is f ullj^ brought forth in the 
pamphlet published by your committee, viz: 

First. The alum baking powders produce a heavier and more indi- 
gestible bread than those made with tartrate of potash. 

Second. The injurious effect of alum on the mucous coat of the 
stomach is positive and beyond dispute; it is both an irritant and 
astringent, interfering seriously with the secretion of digestive juices. 

The above facts are so unanimously asserted b}'^ medical men that 
specific statement seems unnecessary. 

Such being the case, it is evident that the use of alum in any article 
of food or any article used in the preparation of food should be pro- 
hibited by law. 

'the writer's attention has been called to the manner of dealing with 
proprietary medicines in Itah', and it has seemed to him applicable as 
well to articles used as food or in the preparation thereof. 

The article exposed for sale has its formula plainly written thereon. 
From time to time an officer in the employment of the Government 
gathers samples of the article wherever it is to be found on the market, 
and it is subjected to a careful analysis by a competent officer. If 
the contents differ materially from the formula which the article carries, 
then the license of the manufacturer or vender is revoked, and he is 
subject to fine or other punishment. 

In conclusion, from an experience of thirty years in a service where 
the subject under consideration by your committee demands much 
attention, I am led to believe that the adulteration of food in the 
United States is much more general than is supposed. Of its dele- 
terious effects on the welfare of our people there can be no doubt. 
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 

John C. Wise, 
Medical Insj>ectot\ United States Navy. 

[Extract from testunony.] 

THE EFFECT OF ALUM WHEN USED IN BAKING POWDERS, BY 
PEOF. HENRY A. MOTT, JR., PH. D., E. M. 

It hardly seems necessary for any experiments on animals to decide 
a question of this nature so that the use of alum baking powders can 
be condemned, for a thorough scientific investigation of the subject 



628 ADULTERATIOlSr OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

can lead to no other conclusion. Still, as Professor Patrick, of Mis- 
souri, conducted some elementary experiments on cats to sustain his 
position in stating that alum baking powders are not injurious to 
health, and as sucS experiments are interpreted by him favorably — 
although I hope to show, and am quite positive 1 will, that his experi- 
ments are most detrimental to his views and most favorable to the side 
which condemns the use of alum baking powders — I thought it advis- 
able to conduct an exhaustive series of experiments on dogs in search 
of the truth, believing that such an investigation would meet with the 
approbation of the public. 

It was with difficulty I found a suitable place to conduct the experi- 
ments so that the animals would not disturb the neighborhood; but 
through the courtesy of the commissioners of the dock department, I 
secured a shed on their premises, foot of Sixteenth street and East 
Piver. This shed I had completely remodeled into a suitable house, 
having the dimensions of about 16 by 14 by 12 feet high. Sixteen 
stalls were made inside, having dimensions of 3^ by 2 by 2i feet. 
The bottom of each compartment was covered with straw, making a 
pleasant bed for the dogs. I then secured 16 dogs from the j)ound, 
which were all carefully examined to see if they were in perfect state 
of health. None but strong, healthy dogs were selected. The breed, 
age, food, color, and weight of every dog was carefull}' noted. Each 
dog was then consigned to a stall, and securely chained, and they all 
received a number, from 1 to 16. I commenced my experiments on 
the 9th of September, and finished December 3. My assistant was 
with the dogs from morning until night, and never left the animals 
without first securely bolting and locking the dog house. No stranger 
was allowed to enter the house unaccompanied either by nwself or 
by my assistant, and the dogs never received a mouthful of food or 
anything else from anyone except my assistant and myself. 

I will now detail the result of my experiments: 

Dog No. I. 

Breed of dog, coach; age of dog, 1 year; food of dog, bread and 
crackers; color of dog, spotted black and white: health of dog, per- 
fect; weight of dog, 35 pounds. 

To this dog, on the morning of the 9th of September, was given 
8 biscuits at 10 minutes past 8 o'clock. The biscuits were made by 
myself, as follows: 1 quart sifted flour; 20 teaspoons alum baking 
powder; 2 cups of water; 1 tablespoon of butter. Twenty -two bis- 
cuits were made, weighing 27 ounces; time of baking, twenty minutes. 

At half -past 11, just three hours and twenty minutes, the dog was 
taken very sick, vomiting profusely; his vim and brightness of eye 
had departed, and he trembled considerably in his limbs. 

At 4 o'clock 5 more biscuits of the same nature were given, but 
he would not eat them. 

The next morning 8 more fresh biscuits were given him; he ate 
onty a part of 1. During the day previous" he was quite loose in 
the bowels, but he had now become very constipated, and it was only 
with great efl'ort and pain he was able to relieve himself for several 
days. 

On September 11, as he would not eat the biscuits alone; they were 
mixed with meat. This he ate, but remained very dejected in spirits 
and extremely constipated. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



629 



To dog No. V the same food was given. The description of the dog 
was as follows: 

Breed, terrier; age, 9 years; health, perfect; food, crackers; color, 
brindle; weight, 30 pounds. 

At 8.15 on September 9, 8 biscuits, made as described above, were 
given. At 12.15 the dog became very sick and vomited profusely. 
At 4 p. m. 5 more biscuits were given him, but he would not eat. He 
was very constipated toward night. On the following morning 8 
biscuits were given him, which he ate in part during the day. In 
the afternoon he was ver}'^ sick, vomiting at 4.30 and again at 6.45 p. m. 

Experiments were next made, using only half the quantity used 
above of an alum baking powder. 

The biscuits were made as follows: One quart sifted flour, 10 tea- 
spoons alum baking powder, 1^ cups of water, 1 tablespoon of butter; 
27 small biscuits, weight, 25i ounces; time of baking, eleven minutes. 

Three dogs were fed with biscuits thus made, with the following 
results: 



No. II. 



No. IV. 



No. VI. 



Breed of dog 
Age of dog . , 

Health 

Food 

Color 

Weight 



Cur 

15 months 
Perfect . . . 

Bread 

Black 

16 pounds 



Spitz cur , 

1 year 

Perfect . . 
Crackers , 
Yellow . . 
10 pounds 



Shepherd. 
4 years. 
Perfect. 
Crackers. 
White. 
40 pounds. 



Eight biscuits were given to dogs Nos. II and VI in the morning; 
in the afternoon dog No. II was very loose in his bowels and dog No. 
VI very constipated. Five more biscuits were given in the afternoon 
and eight more the following morning, part of which were eaten. Both 
the dogs were then extremely constipated and apparently quite sick, 
although they did not vomit. 

To dog No. IV, in perfect health, was then given three biscuits, 
which were eaten at 9 o'clock. At 10.35 a. m. the dog became quite 
sick and vomited. In the afternoon and next morning more biscuits 
were given him, but he would not eat. 

This demonstrates that some animals are more susceptible to the 
action of poisonous substances than others. 

It now became necessary to know if the same effects would not be 
brought about by using the same quantities of cream of tartar powder. 
I therefore conducted a series of experiments to arrive at this point. 
Three dogs were experimented on. The following is a description of 
the animals: 





No. IX. 


No. X. 


No. XVII. 


Breed of dog 


Mongrel 












2 years. 
Perfect. 


Health 


Perfect 


Perfect 


Color 

Weight 


Black and white 

20 pounds 


Black and white 


Black and tan. 
15 pounds. 







The biscuits were composed as follows: One quart sifted flour, 20 
teaspoons cream-of-tartar baking powder, 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon 
butter; 20 minutes baking; 26 small biscuits; weight, 27 ounces. 

The biscuits given to dog No. XI were twice as large, only 12 being 
made instead of 26; therefore each dog was given as many biscuits as 
he would eat without in any. way affecting them. Their bowels were 



630 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

not in the least affected. Each dog ate 16 biscuits the first day, 8 in 
the morning and 8 at night. Dog No. X did not eat but 10 biscuits. 
The next day each dog ate the biscuits again with appetite. Dog No. 
XVII was fed four days on the biscuits, and ate same with appetite 
without showing any signs of sickness. 

These experiments clearly demonstrate that the salts left in the bis- 
cuit when a cream of tartar baking powder is used are perfectly harm- 
less, but when an alum baking powder is used are very dangerous, as 
in every case where dogs were fed on biscuits made with such powders 
the dogs were made very sick, causing them to vomit profusely, lose 
all energy, and show weakness in their limbs. 

The next series of experiments were to ascertain what effect would 
be produced by feeding dogs with h3^drate of alumina mixed in with 
their food, as also phosphate of alumina. To two dogs, Nos. XV and 
XVI, hj^drate of alumina was then given. 

The following is a description of the dogs: 



No. XVI. 



Breed . . 

Age 

Health . 
Food. .. 
Color. . . 
Weight. 



Mongrel . . 

1 year 

Perfect . . . 

Bread 

White .... 
18 pounds 



Mongrel. 

3 yeans. 

Perfect. 

Bread. 

White and black. 

20 pounds. 



The hydrate of alumina was prepared by Professor Schedler. It was 
made by precipitating the alumina in alum by means of ammonia, and 
then thoroughly washing the same with water until the washings were 
perfectly free from traces of ammonia. The precipitate was then dried 
between blotting' paper, and analyzed to ascertain the percentage of 
water it contained. The following is an analysis of the same : 

Per cent. 

Hydrate of ammonia 12. 48 

Abnormal water - 87. 52 

100. 00 

From this analysis it will be seen that 1 ounce of the precipitate is 
really one-eighth ounce of hydrate of alumina, or 54i grains. 

To dog No. XVI on the 13th of September was given 1 ounce of 
precipitated hydrate of alumina (5-11 grains ALJJ^ SH.^O) mixed with 
meat, at a quarter past 8 in the morning. At 12.30 the dog became 
quite sick and vomited; at 10 minutes of 6 in the afternoon one-fourth 
ounce (109.2 grains) more of hydrate of alumina in meat was given to 
the dog, and at 20 minutes past 6 he was again taken sick and vomited. 
He vomited also considerable during the night, the meat being vomited 
up undigested. The next morning one-fourth ounce (109.02 grains) 
more of hydrate of alumina mixed with meat was given to the dog 
and he vomited a short time afterwards; he was very constipated, his 
last stool being quite black. At 3 o'clock 109.2 grains more were given 
him and he was again taken sick, vomiting and showing great weak- 
ness in his limbs. The next day at 3 o'clock he was given one-fourth 
ounce more of hydrate of alumina mixed with meat, when he was 
taken extremely sick, vomiting several times and showing great weak- 
ness in his limbs and loss of ambition, the brightness of eye having 
disappeared. He vomited during the night and could not be induced 
to eat any more the next day or the day following. 



ADULTERATION OP FOOD PRODUCTS. 631 

To dog No. XV was given three-eighths ounce (163^ grains) of hydrate 
of alumina mixed with meat. The dog was taken very sick in about 
two hours and vomited just two hours and fifty minutes afterwards; 
he also vomited profusely through the night. At 4.30 the next day 
one-half ounce (218 grains) of hydrate of alumina mixed with the 
meat was given the dog; he ate only about one-half of it. He was 
taken very sick a short time afterwards, vomiting and showing great 
weakness and restf ulness. He would not eat any more after that day. 
It may be well to state here that hydrate of alumina is almost taste- 
less, and it was for this reason the dogs ate it as well as they did when 
mixed with meat. To two other dogs hydrate of alumina was given 
only once, and in each case the dogs were made sick and vomited. 

To dog No. IX was given phosphate of alumina mixed with meat. 
The following is a description of the animal: 

Breed of dog, mongrel; age, 4 years; health, perfect; food, bread; 
color, black and white; weight, 20 pounds. 

On September 18, in the morning, 3 ounces of precipitated phos- 
phate of alumina (containing 75 per cent of water, dried between blot- 
ting paper) was mixed with meat and given to the dog. This was eaten 
during the day, but the dog did not vomit, although he was evidently 
quite sick. The next morning 2 ounces more of the precipitated phos- 
phate of alumina mixed with meat was given him, which was all eaten, 
and although the dog did not vomit, he was quite sick, showing less 
life than usual and his eye not being as bright. 

From this last experiment it was clearly shown that the alumina in 
biscuits made with an alum baking powder must be, to a very great 
extent, in the condition of hydrate of alumina, ^s the phosphate, 
although causing the animal to feel unwell, did not make him vomit. 
In every case, as has been stated before, when biscuits were given to 
a dog made with less than seven times the quantity of an alum baking 
powder usually employed the dog vomited profusely and was made very 
sick, trembling in his knees; and this was the case when hydrate of 
alumina was given, even in such small quantities as one-eighth of an 
ounce, or 54^ grains. Experiments were then made to see if the action 
of h3-drate of alumina in an}^ way differed from the action of the alum 
itself. The following is a description employed: 



XIV. 



Breed . . 
Age . . . . 
Health . 
Food... 
Color. . . 
Weight. 



Terrier 

2 years 

Perfect 

Bread 

Black and tan. 
20 pounds 



Terrier. 

2 years. 

Perfect. 

Bread. 

Tan. 

20 pounds. 



To dog No. XIII w\as given 2 ounces of burnt alum mixed with meat 
at 8.15 in the morning. The dog ate only the meat, leaving the alum 
untouched, with the exception of what adhered to the meat, which was 
much less than one-fourth of an ounce. At 9.30 he was very sick, 
trembling in his limbs, losing all vim and brightness of eye, and 
vomited. At 9.45 he vomited again. The next day some fresh meat 
was mixed in with the alum; when he ate part of the meat he was made 
very sick again, and vomited considerably. He would not eat any 
more after this. 

To dog No. XIV 1 ounce of ammoniac alum was mixed with meat 



632 ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

and fed. At 8.15 only about one-eig'hth ounce was eaten. At 9.45 he 
was made veiy sick, the same as dog XIII, and vomited; he vomited 
again at 9.45 and again at 9.55, and was a very sick dog, showing no 
inclination to eat or play; his brightness of eye had entirely disap- 
peared. To two other dogs alum was given with the same results. 
From these experiments it will be clearly seen that hydrate of alumina 
acts in the same manner as alum, causing the animal to vomit pro- 
fusely, show great weakness in the limbs, and loss of ambition. 

The next experiments conducted were to ascertain what effect the 
presence of alum, hydrate of alumina, phosphate of alumina, and basic 
sulphate of alumina had on the solvent power of the gastric juice. It 
was necessary, therefore, to procure some gastric juice for experiment. 
1 therefore sent several dogs to Prof. J. W. S. Arnold, w^ho inserted 
a canula in each of them. When the dogs were in a perfectly healthy 
condition Professor Arnold sent me some gastric juice, which was pro- 
duced by tickling the lining of the stomach of the dogs with a feather 
or glass rod, which caused the gastric juice to flow out of the fistula 
into a receptacle placed underneath the dog to receive it. This and 
other methods were used to excite the flow of the secretion. 

In conducting the experiments with the gastric juice I was greatly 
assisted by the friendly services of Prof. Robert Schedler. Four 
samples of gastric juice were received. The following are the experi- 
ments conducted with the same: 

Sam^jle No. 1. — Obtained by irritating the lining of the stomach 
with a glass tube, pure and free from food. The acid was determined 
in this sample and found to be 0.1.3388 per cent hydrochloric acid. 

Sample No. '2. — Boiled ox heart was fed to the dog, which caused a 
flow of gastric juice, which was afterwards drawn off'. The acid in this 
sample was only 0.006083 per cent hydrochloric acid. 

Sample No. 3. — In 3 grains of this juice the acid was determined and 
found to be 0.21268 per cent hydrochloric acid. 

Experiments were then made with this sample as follows: 

To 3 grams of juice was added 0.0403 grams of fibrine (the fibrine 
was prepared by Professor Arnold from the blood of a dog), and the 
mixture was kept at the temperature of 95-1 OO'^ F. for two hours, and 
of 70-80° F. for twent3^-three hours. Digestion of the fibrine took 
place at the start, but was soon arrested, only one-fourth of the fibrine 
being dissolved. 

To 3 grams more of the juice were added 0.500 grams of alum, and 
then 0.0403 grams of fibrine, and this was treated the same as in the 
last experiment. " In this case about three-fourths of the fibrine was 
dissolved at the start, and then further digestion was entirely checked, 
although it remained in contact twenty-three hours. 

These three experiments are very valuable, as fibrine is so readily 
dissolved. They show that both aluminic hydrate and alum can check 
the digestion of such an easily digested substance as fibrine. They 
show, therefore, how dangerous it is to introduce these two salts into 
our stomachs, if we do not wish to excite indigestion and dyspepsia. 

Three experiments were then conducted with prepared boiled white 
of egg. To 3 grams of gastric juice were added 0.25 grams of albu- 
men, and the juice was kept at 95-100° F. for two hours, when half of 
the egg was dissolved. Three more grams of juice were then added, 
when in two hours all the egg was dissolved. This showed that 100 
grams of gastric juice would dissolve 4.16 grams of albumen. Leh- 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 633 

mann claims it will dissolve 5 grams, and Schmidt 3.95 grams, although 
the latter authority states it ma}^ dissolve more. 

To 3 grams more of gastric juice were added 0.25 grams precipitated 
hydrate of alumina (really only 0.031 grams, AlgOgS HgO), and then 
0.25 grams albumen. The mixture was kept at the temperature of 
95-100° F. for two hours, and in contact fifteen hours, and not a par- 
ticle of the egg was dissolved. 

To 3 grams more of the same juice was added 0.25 grams of alum, 
and then 0.25 grams of albumen, and this was likewise treated; but 
after fifteen hours' contact not a particle of the albumen was dissolved. 
These experiments were duplicated. 

The albumen used in the experiments was the boiled white of egg. 
It was first macerated in a mortar with pure water, then dipped in a 
solution of 1 drop of hydrochloric acid to 2,400 drops of water. It 
was afterwards macerated again in the mortar with pure water, then 
dried between filter paper and weighed. 

The three first experiments demonstrate beyond a doubt that both 
hydrate of alumina and alum check the digestive properties of the 
gastric juice and render it incapable of digesting even the most digest- 
ible substances; and the last three experiments demonstrate that the 
digestive power of the gastric juice is entirely destroyed by hydrate 
of alumina and alum, so far as dissolving the more indigestible sub- 
stances, such as the boiled white of egg. 

The alumina renders the pepsin entirely inactive by combinmg with 
it as organic matter and probably converting it into a species of leather, 
and in the stomach the lining membrane and cells are probably thus 
afl'ected, thereby destroyed, or rendered incapable of performing their 
normal functions. 

Experiments were next made with phosphate of alumina and basic 
sulphate of alumina. 

To 3 grams of a fresh sample of gastric juice were added 0.1 gram 
of precipitated hydrate of alumina and 0.1 gram of boiled white of egg. 

To 3 grams more of the gastric juice were added 0.1 gram of pre- 
cipitated hydrate of alumina and d. 1 gram of boiled white of egg. 

These two mixtures were kept between 95 F. and 100 F. for two 
hours, and in contact twenty-four hours, and not a particle of the albu- 
men was dissolved in either case. These experiments were duplicated 
with fresh gastric juice from another dog, with the same results. 
These experiments show that all alumina salts interfere with the 
powers of digestion, having the property of rendering the pepsin 
inactive. 

My next experiments were to ascertain whether alumina could be 
found in the various organs of the body if a dog was fed with hydrate 
of alumina. I therefore secured a dog from Professor Arnold, of 
which the following is a description : 

Breed of dog, terrier; color, black and tan; age, li years; weight, 
20 pounds. 

This dog had a gastric fistula through which the hj^drate of alumina 
suspended in a water solution was introduced direct into the stomach 
by means of an ordinary s^^ringe. 

On the 21st of October, at 8.30 a. m., 5 ounces of precipitated 
hydrate of alumina and 2 ounces of meat were mixed together and 
given to the dog. He ate only one-third of the mixture. At 11.35 
his bowels were very loose, and at 12.40 he vomited. At 12.55 he 
vomited profusely again, the meat coming up undigested. 



634 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

At 5 p. m. one-twentieth of an ounce of hydrate of alumina sus- 
pended in solution was injected directly into the stomach. The dog 
vomited during the night. The next morning at 9.25 a. m. 1 ounce of 
hydrate of alumina was injected into the stomach and the dog was given 
meat to eat. He vomited at 1.30 p. m., and was very constipated; 
vomited at 2 p. m. and again at 2.15 p. m. At 3 o'clock 1 ounce more 
of the hydrate of alumina was injected. At 5 p. m. he vomited. He 
also vomited during the night and was very constipated. At 8.15 the 
next morning a])out 1 ounce more of the hydrate of alumina was 
injected. He vomited at 11.45 and again at 12.55. At 4.55 p. m. one- 
fourth of an ounce more of hydrate was injected, the dog vomiting 
during the night. 

The dog now was so completely under the influence of the hydrate 
of alumina that I fully believe he would have died if any more alumina 
was injected. He was a very sick dog, trembling in his knees when 
he stood up, and wanting all ambition and vim. His eye was dull — all 
the brightness had departed. On the next morning, at 8 o'clock, I 
killed the dog, collected some of his blood, and took his liver for 
analysis. I separated from the blood by analysis a considerable quan- 
tity of alumina, as also from the liver. The silica and phosphate of 
lime were first removed before the alumina was precipitated. 

My next experiment was on a black-and-tan dog in Professor Arnold's 
lalioratory. I supplied Professor Arnold with freshly precipitated 
hj^drate of alumina, and he fed the animal with the same for four days, 
when the dog was killed. I received the kidney, heart, and blood for 
analysis, in all of which I separated out alumina in large quantities. 
Professor Arnold examined the stomach and intestinal canal, and also 
analyzed the spleen and liver. His report is given below. 

The next dog experimented on was also a black and tan. To this 
dog Professor Arnold fed precipitated phosphate of alumina (contain- 
ing 75 per cent of water) mixed with meat. On killing the dog I took 
the spleen and liver for analysis, and separated out large quantities 
of alumina from them. Professor Arnold examined the stomach, etc., 
and also analyzed the heart. 

REPORT OF PROF. J. W. S. ARNOLD. 

University of the City of Neav York, 
Medical Department, 410 East Twenty-sixth street, 

Nerv York, December 12, 1879. 

This is to certify that I have supphed Dr. Henry A. Mott with a number of samples 
of gastric juice from the dog, the juice being pure and in tlie normal condition. 

I have also made a number of gastric fistulpe in dogs. Some of the animals I deliv- 
ered to Dr. Molt; from others I obtained the juice with which I supplied him. 

I fed a dog upon meat mixed with precipitated hydrate of alumina (containing 
much water) . The amount of this hydrate of alumina given the dog was 12 ounces. 
I killed the animal and examined the viscera. The duodenum was highly inflamed 
in its upper portion. The spleen and liver, upon analysis, showed the presence of a 
considerable quantity of alumina. The heart, kidneys, and samples of the blood from 
the animal were given to Dr. INIott for analysis. 

I fed another dog with precipitated phosphate of alumina (containing much water) 
mixed with meat, to the amomit of live ounces of this phosphate of alumina. Upon 
killing the animal, both the stomach and the duodenum were found very much 
congested. Upon testing, the heart showed the presence of considerable alumina in 
its tissues. 

Dr. Mott received portions of liver and spleen for analysis. 

I also prepared microscopical slides of a dog's stomach in a healthy condition, and 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 635 

of the stomach of the dog fed with precipitated phosphate of alumina in a congested 
condition. These I sent to Dr. Mott. 

J. W. Akxold, a. M., M. D., 
Professor Phi/siolnr/i/ and Jflsfo/og!/, 
Medical Departmenl Cuicersity of New York. 

From these elaborate experiments it will be seen that both hydrate 
of alumina and phosphate of alumina are very injurious substances to 
introduce into the stomach, as these are sure to produce acute inflam- 
mation. 

It may be advisable to say a few words with respect to some experi- 
ments conducted by Professor Patrick, of Kansas, on cats, with an 
alum baking- powder. 

Some biscuits were made with 3 teaspoons of alum baking powder 
to 1 pint of flour, equal to 6 teaspoons to 1 quart of flour. Six biscuits 
were baked in a batch and from 1 to li were fed to a cat. After 
digestion had gone on a certain length of time (from twenty minutes 
to two and a half hours), varying in the different subjects, the cat was 
killed and the entire contents, not onh^ of the stomach, but of the 
small intestines also, were examined for dissolved alumina. The mass 
was digested in water, filtered, evaporated, and ignited to destroy 
organic matter, extracting with strong acids, filtering, and, finally, 
adding ammonia hydrate. ""In every case," says Professor Patrick, 
•"'a large amount of sodium sulphate was found (in solution, as was 
expected), and also acertain amountof h3^drate of alumina undissolved." 
What the professor means by ' ' a certain amount of hydrate of alumina 
undissolved " it is difficult to ascertain. Surely if it were undissolved 
he might have dissolved it by the aid of a little heat»and a little more 
acid. 

The truth of the matter is, if the filtered solution contained any 
alumina, it was combined with the organic matter. On ignition the 
alumina would be rendered insoluble. If not insoluble, where did the 
insoluble alumina obtained come from? 

Perhaps he obtained it on the filter. This would clearly show that 
it was still in the stomach, not having been as j^et absorbed. If this 
were not the case, and no alumina was found in solution in the diges- 
tive fluids, then the alumina must have been absorbed into the system, 
for it certainly entered the stomach through the biscuits. 

Professor Patrick further states: 

Now if bread is carelessly mixed with an insufficient amount of water, part of the 
flour (and with it the powder) remains nearly or quite dry; and, after baking, 8uch 
bread would contain a certain small amount of alum. 

This is certainly a very fair admission. We all know that bread is 
very carelessly mixed at times, as there are few who make good bread. 
Patrick''s experiments actually prove this to be the case. He says: 

To insure the entire absence of alum in the bread, the mixing must be done with 
plenty of water; and to effect this, I would suggest (although I do not consider it an 
absolute necessity) that the batter, with the powder added, be made rather thin at 
first, and then thickened by addition of more flour without powder. 

In other words. Professor Patrick would upset the whole system of 
bread making so as to insure the use of an alum baking powder with 
safety (?). 

It is certain a few intelligent cooks might be persuaded to adopt this 
new method, but the majority could not be persuaded to do so; or if 
they did, they would only do so once or twice and then fall back in 
their old ways, which would result in having alum in the bread. 



636 ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

1 think we can safely discard Professor Patrick's experiments as 
proving anj^thing in favor of alum baking powders, for, in my opinion, 
they only strengthen the view I have always taken, and which mj^ 
elaborate experiments have conclusively demonstrated — ;that alum 
baking powders are most injurious to health. 

It has been asserted by me that a person eating one biscuit made 
with an alum baking powder would suffer from the alumina salts pres- 
ent in it, but it is certain that persons continually eating biscuits made 
with an alum powder will suffer from its poisonous effects, as the 
alumina salts, instead of passing out of the system, accumulate in the 
various organs, interfering with their proper functions. 

It must not be inferred from what has just been said that the amount 
of alumina salts present in a biscuit is so very small. The following 
experiment will throw some light on this subject: 

Ounces. 

Sifted flour taken (1 quart) 15^ 

Alum baking powder (2 teaspoons) I 

Lard H 

Milk 10| 

Weight of dough 28^ 

Weight of biscuit (hot) - - - 24|- 

Loss in baking - 3^ 

Weight of biscuit (cold) 23^ 

Loss of cooling 1^ 

The baking took fifteen minutes. The biscuits were heavy. An- 
other experiment was conducted, using 3 teaspoons of an alum baking 
powder. The biscuits produced were quite light, showing that 3 
teaspoons of the powder are necessary: 

Grains. 

2 teaspoons of alum powder, weighed 234 

3 teaspoons of alum jjowder, weighed 351 

The baking powder contained about 30 per cent of burnt alum. 

Therefore there was introduced into 24i ounces of biscuit 105.3 
grains of burnt alum, or what is equivalent to 194.21 grains of com- 
mon alum. 

One pound of biscuits contained alumina salts, if calculated as com- 
mon alum (when 3 teaspoons of an alum powder is used), equivalent 
to 163 grains. 

If the alumina in biscuit be calculated as hydrate of alumina, then 1 
pound of biscuit would contain 54 grains. 

One biscuit would contain 3 grains of hydrate of alumina. A per- 
son would eat about four of these biscuits at a meal, and would there- 
fore introduce into his stomach 12 grains of hydrate of alumina. 

I will close with presenting a letter to me from Prof. E. S. Wayne, 
of Cincinnati, in which he states that two families were poisoned by 
the use of alum baking powder. 

Cincinnati, April 10, 1879. 

Dear Sir: I have read your reports on baking powders with interest, and fully 
indorse all you say respecting them and their use. 

I have met with two cases of poisoning here that could be traced to nothing else 
but alum baking powders. A Mr. Edwards, wife and children, were all made very 
sick by eating cakes made with it, and their symptoms were so similar to that of 
arsenical poison that they supposed they had been so poisoned. The case was handed 
to me and I found nothing in either cakes or powder but alum. 

So also with the family of Mrs. W. J. Breed. 

We are making efforts' here to have a law passed by our legislature to prevent the 
use of alum in baking powders. 

Respectfully, yours, etc., E. S. Wayne, Ph. D., M. D. 



ADULTERATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 



637 




638 ADULTEKATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 

The Columbian University, 

Department of Chemistry, 

WasJiingto7i^ D. 61, Fehruary 5^ 1900. 
Senator William E. Mason, 

Chairman Committee on Manufaxitures., 

ZTn'ded States Senate., Washingto7i, D. C 

Dear Sir: In response to your request to be informed as to experi- 
ments which I have made with alum baking powders, I have to state 
that I made three samples of bread, using materials from two different 
brands of alum baking powders found in the market, and from two 
different boxes of the same brand of alum baking powder. I made 
the bread from flour, distilled water, and the baking powder only, and 
also from these ingredients, to which salt and shortening had been 
added, the proportions used being as prescribed in the directions sold 
with the baking powders. 

I digested these breads, after chopping and crushing them, in distilled 
water alone, or in distilled water containing from two to three parts of 
HC'i in one thousand, this being about the strength of the gastric juice 
in man, and I placed the chyme or the juice expressed from it in dia- 
l3^zers. I used dialyzers made of animal membranes, of parchment, of 
parchmentized paper, and I employed the bladder directly as taken 
from a recently killed animal, and in every case I found aluminum 
compounds in the dialysates from these breads made with alum baking 
powders. 

It is generally agreed that when alum baking powder is used in 
making bread the residue is left in the bread in the form of aluminum 
hydroxide, and of aluminum phosphate where other phosphates have 
been previously present, and I have found that such aluminum 
hydroxide is soluble in hydrochloric, in acetic, and in lactic acids at 
ordinary temperatures, while the phosphate is soluble in hydrochloric 
acid. 

Each of these acids are known to be present in the stomach of man 
during digestion. It is also held that after digestion in the stomach 
the food, in solution, eventually reaches the blood by osmose. 

My experiments show conclusively that hydrochloric acid of the 
strength found in the gastric juice of man will, at ordinary tempera- 
tures, dissolve the residues left by alum baking powders in bread 
baked with them, and that the solutions of the aluminum compounds 
thus formed will pass through animal membranes by osmosis. 
Very respectfully, 

Charles E. Munroe. 



Office of the Appraiser of Merchandise, 

Fort of New York, N. Y., February 5, 1900. 
Hon. W. F. Wakeman, 

■ United States Ajypraiser. 

Sir: Replying to the inclosed communication of the 23d ultimo from 
Hon. William E. Mason, relative to the importation of carbonic-acid 
gas, with request to be advised as to the quantity of this merchandise 
imported during the past five years, I have to state: 

Carbonic-acid gas had been returned free of duty previous to the 
operation of the present tariff as acid used for manufacturing pur- 
poses. This provision was not made in the present tariff, nor was the 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PKODUCTS. 



G39 



article specifically mentioned, and therefore it was returned for duty 
as a nonenumerated acid at the rate of 25 per cent ad valorem under 
the provisions of paragraph 1. 

An appeal was taken to the United States Board of General Ap- 
praisers on this classification and the action of this office was sustained, 
the whole matter being the subject of T. D, 19134 (G. A. 4107). 
Since the decision has been rendered no merchandise of this character 
has been received here. If it is brought into the country it comes 
through other ports. 

The records of this ofiice do not furnish the information desired as 
to the quantity of this merchandise imported, as it is only returned in 
our record book as an acid. No specific items of particular merchan- 
dise are recorded. 

Kespectfully, Alex. Hamill, 

Assistant Appraiser, Seventh Dwisio?i. 

[Indorsement.] 

OrriCE OF THE Appeaiser OF Merchandise, 

New YorJc, N. T., Fehrucmj 5, 1900. 

Respectfully forwarded to Hon. William E. Mason, United States 
Senate, Washington, D. C, in response to his inquiry of January 23, 
1900, for his information. It will be noted by Mr. Mason that the 
records of this office do not give the details as to quantities imported. 
Communication with the statistical bureau of the custom-house at this 
port may result in the obtainment thereof. Possiblj^ the statistical 
bureau of the Treasury Department, at Washington, may furnish the 
information. 

W. F. Wakeman, 

Zhiited States Appraiser. 

SAMPLE ANALYSES OF SOME OF THE AMERICAN STANDARD 

BREWERIES. 

Pahst Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wis. 



Specific 
gravity. 



Extract. 



Alcohol 

by 
■weight. 



Original 
weight. 



Bohemian . . 

Century 

Doppel Brau 
Best Tonic. 



1. 0233 
1. 0238 
1. 0258 
1.0575 



Per cent. 

7.27 

7.30 

8 

15.02 



Per cent. 

3.06 

2.93 

3.71 

.52 



Per cent. 
13.16 
12. 95 
15. 07 
18.30 



Antiseptics, none 



jong Island Brewing Company, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Alco- 
hol. 


Ex- 
tract. 


Sugar. 


Dex- 
trin. 


Albu- 
mi- 
noids. 


Lactic 
acid. 


Min- 
eral 
sub- 
stances. 


Hop ex- 
tract. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


Per ct. 


4.21 


6.36 


2.16 


2.28 


.43 


.24 


.28 


.97 


4.12 


6.36 


2.32 


1.74 


.56 


.24 


.32 


1.18 


3.77 


5.49 


2.02 


1.87 


.36 


.19 


.30 


.75 



Orig- 
inal 
extract 
of beer. 



Black Label 

The Regal 

The Pale Extra 



Per ct. 
14.40 
14.20 
12.80 



No antiseptics. 



640 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PEODUCTS. 

Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association, of St. Louis', Mo. 



Pale lager 

Faust 

Budweiser 

Standard 

Dark 

Export 

Miehelot 

Muencheuer . . 
Black and tan. 
Maltnutrine.. 



Specific 

gravity, 

14° R. 



1.0148 
1.0164 
1.0148 
1. 0148 
1. 01G4 
1. 0148 
1.0144 
1.0176 
1. 0272 
1. 0554 



Alcohol 

by 
weight. 



Per cent. 
3.64 
3.86 
3.68 
3.55 
3.91 
3.64 
3.30 
3.82 



Extract- 
ive mat- 
ter by 
weight. 



Per cent. 
5.36 
5.86 
5.38 
5.33 
5.88 
5.36 
5.11 
6.15 
8.10 
14.35 



Degree of 
fermen- 
tation. 



Per cent. 
56.7 
55.9 
56.9 
56.3 
56.1 
56.7 
55.5 
54.5 
40.3 
17 



Per cent. 

Albuminoids 0.40 to 0.90 

Total acid 06 to .15 

Ash 10 to .15 

Antiseptics None. 

George Ringler Brewing Company, New York City, N. Y. 



Kapuziner , 

Pilsner 

Real German lager beer 



Specific 
gravity. 



1. 0103 
1.0127 
1. 0235 



Extract 
of hops. 



Per cent. 
7.21 
7.09 
8.35 



Alcohol 

by 
weight. 



Per cent. 
3.02 
2.97 
3.37 



Original 
weight. 



Per cent. 
13.11 
12.77 
14.55 



No antiseptics. 



FOREIGN ANALYSIS. 

Arthur Guinnesses Son & Co., foreign stout. 





Acidity. 


Spirit 
indi- 
cated. 


Extract 
grav- 
ity. 


Origi- 
nal 

grav- 
ity. 


Proof 
spirit. 


Guinness Dublin stout 


36 


11 


1,024 


1,074 


14 







Percentage proof spirit by volume. Antiseptics, none. 

Thomas McMullen & Co.''s Wliite Label Bass ale. 

















Mineral 
















constitu- 








Dex- 
trin, 


Albu- 


Carbo- 




ents com- 




Specific 


Malt- 


mi- 


hy- 


Alco- 


posed 




grav- 


ose, per 


noids, 


drates, 


hol per 


from salts 




ity. • 


cent. 


cent. 


per 


per 


cent. 


derived 








cent. 


cent. 




from 
















malt and 
















hops. 


McMullen's White Label Bass ale 


1.0275 


9.06 


14.09 


6.34 


12. 28 


6.14 


3.40' 







No antiseptics. 



ADULTEEATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS. 641 



Johanii Hoff'ft malt extract, Berlin, Grrmamj, and New York City, United States of 

America. 

•EISNER A MENDELSON COMPANY, NEW YORK CITY. 

Per cent. 

Alcohol 4. 06 

Solid extract 10. 67 

Free acid 225 

Mineral substances . 316 

Phosphoric acid 142 

Glycerin 246 

Original worts (l:>y Balling saccharometer) 18. 79 

F P 41 . 



INDEX OF NAMES. 



A. 

Page. 

1. Adams, H. C, commissioner of dairy and food, State of Wisconsin.. 207, 208, 209 
■ 2. Allport, Walter H., doctor, physician, and surgeon, Chicago, 111 255-261 

3. Ames, Howard E., surgeon. United States Navy, Washington, D. C 350 

4. Appleton, John Howard, professor of chemistry. Brown University, 

Providence, E. I '. 619 

5. Armour Packing Co. , Chicago, 111 349 

0. Army, U. S., action re: to rejection alum baking powders, Washington, 

D. C 603, 604, 610 

7. Arnold, J. W. S. , professor. University of New York 634, 635 

8. Atwater, W. O., professor and director Government experimental station, 

Washington, D. C 348, 349 

9. Austen, Peter F., professor and chemist. New York City, N. Y. 531, 543 

B. 

1. Barker, George F. , professor, University of Pennsylvania 348 

2. Bander, De Witt, president Pleasant Valley Wine Company, Rheims, 

N. Y., manufacturing American champagne naturally fermented 513-518 

3. Bauer, John, brewmaster for F. & M. Schaffer Company, New York 389-396 

4. Begbies, Ross & Gibson, flour dealers, London, England 9 

5. Berry, John, confectioner, Chicago, 111 307-309 

6. Berry, J. J. , Sirup Refining Comjiany, Chicago, 111 96-102 

7. Billings, Frank, physician, Chicago, 111 244-250 

8. Brawn & Fitts, butter merchants, Chicago, 111 147 

9. Broad well, W^m. , butter and cheese, Chicago, 111 157-167 

10. Broun, Hevwood C. , manager and importer The McMullens White Label 

Bass and White Label Guinness's Stout, New York City, N. Y 399-400 

11. Brown, John W., president Long Island Brewery, Brooklyn, N. Y 385-389, 

391-396 

12. Bruce & Wilson, flour merchants, Glasgow, Scotland 8 

13. . Bulletin of Pharmacy, New York City, N. Y 185, 186 

14. Busch, Adolph, president Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company, St. Louis, 

Mo ; 486^93 

15. Busey, S. C, professor, Washington, D. C 626 

C. 

1 . Caldwell, G. C. , professor Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y 348 

2. Chamberlin, Pole & Co. , flour merchants, Bristol, England 10 

3. Chaijdler, C. F., professor Columbia University, New York City 626 

4. Chicago Chronicle, extract from 349 

5. Chicago Record, extract from 349 

6. Chittenden, Russell H., professor Yale University, New Haven, Conn... 418-426 

7. Cliff, August, manufacturer of pickles and horse-radish, Chicago, 111 . . . 153-157 

8. Coffee Exchange, New York and Chicago 48, 49 

9. Cook, Douglas G., president American Wine Company, manufacturing 

American champagne naturally fermented, St. Louis, Mo 518-520 

10. Cornwall, H. B. , professor University of Princeton, N. J 618 

11. Cooke, Ort, manufacturer of substitute for maple sugar, Chicago, 111 237 

12. Craig R. Hunter & Co. , flour merchants, London, England 10 

13. Crampton, C. A., professor Division of Chemistry, Washington, D. C .. 621-624 

14. Cracke, Edward, butter expert, New York City, N. Y 480 

15. Crillv, F. J. , president, New York Citv, N. Y 473 

16. Cuthbert, Dr. M. F., physician, Washington, D. C 609, 610 

643 



644 INDEX OF NAMES. 

D. 

Page. 

1. Dadie, John, manager Moxley Butterine Company, Chicago, 111 325-332 

2. Delafontaine, Marc, professor of chemistry, Chicago, 111 229-233 

3. De Schweinitz, Emile, professor. United States Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, D. C 613,614 

4. Duff, James C, professor, official chemist New York Stock Exchange. .. 497-500 

5. Duncan, T. C, physician, Chicago, 111 47 

E. 

1. Eaton, E.N., professor and chemist, Chicago, 111 233-236 

2. Eckert, Bernard, president Swan Milling Company, Chicago, 111 26-28 

3. Edwards, Arthur R. , Dr. , Chicago, 111 285-290 

4. Edwards, William S., producer mineral waters, Chicago, 111 238, 239 

5. Eisner, Moritz, importer and manufacturer of mineral waters and Hoff's 

malt extract. New York City, N. Y 432,433 

6. Eitel, Karl, importer wine and beers, Chicago, 111 290, 291 

7. Ellsworth, Henry, commission merchant, Chicago, 111 253-255 

8. Emerson, Edward R., president Brotherhood Wine Co., manufacturing 

American champagnes, naturally fermented; still wines, brandies, and 
whiskies, Washington ville, N. Y 501-508 

9. English test case 270-276 

lu. English reports 279-281 

11. Evans, Robert W., brewer, Evans's pale ale and porter, Hudson, N. Y.. 416, 417 

F. 

1. Fairhurst, Alfred, professor, chemist. University of Kentucky, Lexing- 

ton, Ky 620 

2. Faulkner, William F. , confectioner, Chicago, 111 302, 303 

3. Fecker, Ernest, jr., manager United States Brewing Company, Chicago, 

111 297-299 

4. Fischer, Israel F., representing wholesale liquor dealers. New York City. 470-473 

5. Fleming, Walter M. , physician. New York City, N. Y 604 

6. Frear, William, professor. State College, Pennsylvania 480-484, 525-531 

7. Freeman, George F., surgeon. United States Naval Hospital, Washington, 

D. C 619-620 

8. Furbay, H. G,, representing Hazel Pure Food Company, Chicago, 111 .- 60-63 

G. 

1. Gallagher Augustine, publisher, revenue agent, enforcing mixed-flour law, 

Chicago, 111 1-7,135 

2. German Association report 276-279 

3. Grippeling Zee, flour merchant, Amsterdam, Holland "11 

4. Green, James B. , attorney at law, Washington, D. C 592 

5. Grocer Leader, extracts, Chicago, 111 269, 270 

6. Guinness, Arthur, Son & Co., limited, manufacturers Guinness Stout, St. 

James Gate, Dublin 544-547 

7. Gunther, Charles F. , confectioner, Chicago, 111 303-307 

H. 

1. Hachemeister, Henry, treasurer George Ringler Brewing Company, Ne^^• 

York City 415,416 

2. Haines, Walter S., professor, Rush Medical College, Chicago, 111 283-285 

3. Hallberg, C. S. W., professor, Chicago University, Chicago, 111.. 79-87,102,103 

4. Hamill, Alex. , assistant appraiser. New York City 639 

5. Hanes, C. F., salesman Battle Creek Health Food, Chicago, 111 261-264 

6. Hanney, P. M. , manufacturer foods, Chicago, 111 68, 59, 60, 63, 64 

7. Hart, Herbert W. , specialist on foods. New York City 362-367 

8. Harrison, Duncan B. , sergeant-at-arms 590, 591 , 592 

9. Hay, Col. Edwin B. , attorney at law, Washington, D. C 592 

10. Havemeyer, Henry 0., president American Sugar Company 465,466,467 

11. Heller, Albert, manufacturer food products and preservatives, Chicago, 

111 149,150,171-185,186 

12. Henrotin, D"r. Fernand, Chicago, 111 264, 265 

13. Henshaw, M. W., Chicago, 111 265,266 



INDEX OF NAMES. 645 

Page. 

14. Hildreth, Walter E., president Urbana AVine Company, manufacturing 

American naturally fermented champagne, still wines, and brandies, 

New York City, N.' Y 508-513 

15. Hochstadter, Sigmund, wholesale dealer liquors. New York City, N. Y. 467-473 

16. Hobbs, John F., editor National Provisioner, New York City, N. Y 495, 496 

17. Hils, Dr. Joseph, Woonsocket, R. 1 350 

18. Hupfel, I. Christian G., brewer, New York City, N. Y. . 378-380, 382-385, 391-396 

I. 
1. larck & Meyer, merchants, flour, Hamburg, (jermany 10, 11 



1. Jackson, James, representing Fruit Importers' Union, New York, N. Y. 473 

2. James Arthur & Co. , flour merchants, Bristol, England 9,'10 

3. James, Frank L. , professor and editor, St. Louis, Mo 266-281 

4. Janssens, Eugene M., merchant, flour, Antwerp, Belgium 9 

5. Jarvie, James N., merchant, representing Arbuckle Company, coffees 

and sugars, New York and Brooklyn, N. Y 428-430 

6. Jelke, John F., manufacturer oleomargarine, Chicago, 111 332-335 

7. Jenkins, Edward H., professor, department of agriculture, State of Con- 

necticut 448-455 

8. Johnston, Dr. William W. , Washington, D. C 625, 626 

9. Johnson, G. W . , editor Petit Journal, Brussels, Belgium 360, 361 

10. Johnson, Jos. Taber, professor of surgery, Washington, D. C 614, 615 

11. Johnson, S. W., professor, Yale College, New Haven, Conn 348 

12. Jolles, Adolph, professor, Vienna, Austria 348 

K. 

1. Kerr, Dr. William R, ex-health officer, Chicago, 111 604,605 

2. Kressler, Frederick, brewmaster for Jas. Everard Brewery, New York 

City 376-378 

3. Kruger, Gustav, flour merchant, Hamburg, Germany 11 

4. Knight, C. Y, , editor Pure Food Journal, Chicago, 111 137-146 

167-171, 242-244, 250-252, 344-350 

L. 

1. La Touche, Christopher Digges, managing director, Arthur Guinness, Son 

& Co. , limited, Dublin, Ireland 544-547 

2. Lewis, Giles I. , wholesale druggist, Chicago, 111 33-39 

3. Liebmann, Joseph, brewer, Liebmann's Brewery, New York City 393-396 

4. Liebriech, C. , Prof. , Berlin, Germany 279 

5. Lippe, Henry J., president Elias Brewing Company, New York City, 

N. Y 380-385,391-396 

6. London Lancet, extract 47, 48 

7. Luce, Goter, flour merchant, Bremen, Germany 8 

8. Luchsinger, Mathieu, flour merchant, Amsterdam, Holland 9 

9. Lunham, Robert T. , packer, Chicago, 111 239-242 

M. 

1. Mallet, John William, Prof., University of Virginia 549-556 

2. Marine-Hospital Service, action re: to rejection alum baking powders... 613 

3. McMurtrie, William, Prof., consulting and analytical chemist 592-604 

4. Meeson, W. M . , flour merchant, London^ England 8 

5. Mew, W. M., Prof., chemist. Army Medical Department United States, 

Washington, D. C , 612,613 

6. Miller, W. E., manager butterine department. Armour Co., Kansas City, 

Mo 322-325, 348 

7. Minor, John C, jr., manager Carbonic Acid Gas Co., New York City... 573-576 

8. Mitchell, A. S. Prof., chemist Dairy and Food Commission State of Wis- 

consin 106-133 

9. ]\Ioore, Herman F. , bee hiver, Park PJdge, 111 217-220 



646 INDEX OF NAMES. 



10. Morris & Co. , flour merchants, London, England 8 

11. Morton, Henry, president of Stevens Institute, Hoboken, X. J 11, 621 

12. Monred, J. H. , expert dairy products, Winnetka, 111 64, 65 

13. Mowat Brothers, flour merchants, Glasgow, Scotland 9 

14. Moxley, Wm. J. , butter expert, Chicago, 111 146-149 

15. Munroe, Chas. Edwd., Professor of Chemistry Columbian University, 

Washington, D. C _. 607,608,609,638 

1 6. Murray, Allen, drug and spice milling, Chicago, 111 66-73 

17. Mott, Henry A., Professor, New York City, N. Y 627-634 

N. 

1. National Provisioner, New York City 349, 350 

2. Navy, U. S., Action re. to rejection Alum Baking Powders 612, 613 

3. North, J. A. , exporter of butter. New York City 475-480 

0. 

1. Oeline, Theodore, president Conrad Seipp Brewing Company, Chicago, 111 . 293-297 

2. O'Reilly, J. Fanning, editor Liquor Trades' Gazette, New York City 460-465 

P. 

1. Pabst, Captain Fred., president Pabst Brewing Company, Milwaukee, 

Wis -■ 311-313 

2. Petraens, C. V., Prof., Chicago, 111 291-293 

3. Piff ard, Henry G. , Dr. , food expert. New York City 187-195 

4. Pirrung, Henry C. , manufacturer butterine, Columbus, Ohio 313-322, 338-340 

5. Plautz, C. Herman, secretary United Brewing Company, Chicago, 111 . . 300, 301 

6. Prescott, Albert B., professor University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 195-201, 

625 

7. Price, A. F., medical director TJ. S. Naval Hospital, Washington, D. C. 619 

8. Pole, Chamberlin & Co., flour merchants, London, England 10 

9. Pollak, Richard, butterine merchant, Chicago, 111 152, 153 

10. Potter, W. C, manager butterine department, Swift & Co., Chicago, 111. 335, 336 

R. 

1. Ried and Glasgow, flour merchants, Liverpool, England 8 

2. Rew, George C, manager Calumet Baking Powder Company, Chicago. 87-89, 

104-106 

3. Rheinstorm, Isaac, distiller liquors and cordials, New York City 427 

4. Ripen, Benjamin, manufacturer artificially cai'bonated champagnes. New 

York City : 569-573 

5. Roche, Edward G., bottler McMullen's White Label Bass Ale and White 

Label Guinness's stout. New York City -.-. 413, 414 

6. Rogers, William J. , secretary Borden' s condensed milk .' 439^44 

7. Rossati, Cavaliere Guido, chemist department agriculture, Italy 444-448 

S. 

1. Sadler, George B., editor Bonfort's Wine and Spirit Circular, New York 

City 396-398 

2. Schiller, Louis J., chemist, Arbuckle Brothers 430, 431 

3. Schwarz, Max, director, U. S. Brewers' Academy, New York City 367-374 

4. Schweitzer, Paul, professor IMissouri State University 348 

5. Schoffer, W. , flour merchant, Rotterdam, Holland 8 

6. Scientific American, extracts from 222, 223 

7. Scobel, Dr. R. Kennedy, president Health Society, Chicago, 111 50-52 

8. Scully, Maurice H. , manufacturer sirups, Chicago, 111 89-96 

9. Shand, Arthur T., American agent Arthur Guinness Son & Co., Lim- 

ited, manufacturers of Guinness' stout, of Dublin, Ireland 543-547 

10. Shields, M., confectioner, Chicago, 111 309-311 

11. Silvus, E. G., editor, Athens, Ohio 185 

12. Smart, Chas., Lieut. Col., Deputy Surg. Gen., tJ. S. Arm>- 606, 607 

13. Smith, Geo. W. , flour merchant, 'Chicago, 111 133, 134 



INDEX OF NAMES. 647 

Page. 

14. Somes, James F., produce dealer, Chicago, 111 151, 152 

15. Sterne, Chas. S. , commission merchant, Chicago, 111 340-344 

16. Sterne, Geo. M., commission merchant, Chicago, III 220-229 

1 7. Stewart, Greame, druggist, Chicago, 111 73-79 

LS. Sternberg, Geo. M., Surg. Gen. U^ S. Army, Washington, D. C 604 

1 9. Stowe, Mrs. N. L. , food expert, Chicago, ill 216, 217 

20. Stringfield, C. Pruyn, professor Chicago Baptist Hospital, Chicago, 

111 : 281-283,548,549 

T. 

1. Thomann, Gallus, secretary United States Brewers' Association, New 

York City, N. Y 351-361,364,365 

2. Thompson, Charles H. , butterine merchant, Hammond, Ind 336-338 

3. Thurber, Francis B., president American Grocer Publishing Company, 

New York City 1- 579-583 

4. Tucker, Willis G., Prof, of Chemistry, and director State Board of Health, 

State New York 433-439,618 

V. 

1. Vaughan, Victor C, professor University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 

Mich : 201-207 

2. Van Reypen, W. K., Surgeon-General United States Navy, Washington, 

D.C 615,616 

W. 

1. Wackenruth, Fred. C, brewer for Ballen tine & Co., Newark, N. J 412,413 

2. Wakeman, AV. F., appraiser of merchandise. New York City, N. Y'' 639 

3. Wayne, E. S. , professor, Cincinnati, Ohio 636 

4. Weber, H. A., professor, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 605, 606 

5. Werner, Aug. C., jr., manufacturer artificially carbornated champagnes. 

New York City 576-579 

6. Wheeler, Charles G. , president White Top Champagne Company, produc- 

ing American champagne naturally fermented, Pultney, Steuben 
County, N. Y 521-525 

7. Wieting, C. A., commissioner agriculture State of New York, Albany, 

N.Y'' 494,495 

8. Wigan, Herbert W., brewmaster for H. Clausen & Co., New York City. 374-376 

9. Wiley, professor H. W., Chief Chemist, Department Agriculture, United 

States, Washington, D. C - 12-32, 

39-47, 52-57, 139, 140, 209-220, 231, 232, 234, 433^39, 582-589, 590 

10. Wise, John C. , medical inspector U. S. Navy 627 

11. Withers, professor W. A., chemist North Carolina Agricultural Experi- 

ment Station, Raleigh, N. C 617 

12. Wyatt, Francis, brewer's chemist. New York City 400^1 1 

13. Wvman, Walter, Surgeon-General United States Marine Hospital, Wash- 

ington, D. C 616 

14. Woodward, Wm. C, Dr., health officer, District of Columbia, Washing- 

ton, D. C 610,611 

Y\ 

1. Y'ork, George W., editor American Bee Journal, Chicago, 111 209-216 

Z. 

1. Zeltner, William H., brewer, Zeltner Brewing Company, New Y^ork City. 455-460 

2. Zucca, Antonio, president Italian Chamljer of Commerce, New York City. 484-486 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 



A. 

Page. 

1. Adulterations, general, embracing two hundred and ninety-seven subjects 

adulterated 33-43, 

50, 51, 52, 58-64, 66-73, 79-84, 85-87, 106-133, 135, 136, 137, 187-195, 
196-201, 202-207, 220-229, 230-233, 416, 418-426, 433-439, 448-455, 
468-473, 474, 475, 480-484, 485, 486, 497-501, 579-583, 584-589 

2. Ale and porter 416,417,543,544,545,546,547 

3. Allspice 19 

4. Alum in baking powders 37, 46, 67, 70, 87, 88, 89, 102-109, 197, 200, 

205, 206, 230, 232, 236, 291, 292, 293, 582-589, 590-601, 604-606-621 

5. Alum baking powder advocates 531-543 

6. Alum in baking powders, prohibition of, advocated by law. . 27, 106-133, 579-618 

7. Alum, prohibited use in foods in England, France, and Germany 59"^ 

8. Alum in liaking powders, restricted use in Minnesota and Wisconsin. . 106-133, 597 

9. Alum poisonous as an ingredient in foods 549-556, 

604-606-621, and supplementary jjages. 

10. Alum a toxic poison, experiments with 605, 606, and supplementary images. 

11. Alum not found in potable waters, fruits, or natural foods.. 582-589-601, 604-606 

12. Animal fats 13 

13. Antiseptics, general, embracing one hundred and sixteen subjects 351-361, 

418-426 

14. Associated Press statement of Chairman Senator Wm. E. Mason re to 

committee's work, character of testimony given, and forecast of national 

food law 500,501 

15. Alum, experiments Avith, upon dogs, with tables and maps. . Supplementary pages. 

16. Alum, experiments with, upon bladder of freshly killed animals Supple- 

mentary pages, 

B. 

1. Baking powders 37, 

46, 47, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 87, 102-109, 117, 197, 200, 205, 206, 230, 236, 531- 
543,548,549-556, 557, 558-568,579-583, 584-589, 590-598, 601,602-621 

2. Baking powders containing alum, experimental tables showing effects 

upon digestion of the residue left therefrom in bread 557-568 

3. Barytes 32 

4. Beers, draft and bottled, American 19-21, 

49, 50, 187-190, 293-301, 311-313, 351-361-396, 400-413, 415, 416, 486-495 

5. Beers, ales, porters, and stouts, imported 290, 

291, 351-361, 383, 399, 400, 413, 414, 455-460, 486-493 

6. Beers, ales, porters, and stouts, American and imported, analvtical tables. 639-641 

7. Boric acid 13, 255-261, 264-269, 285-290, 418-426 

8. Borax as a preservative 13, 

15, 16, 47, 48, 242-245, 250-252, 253-261, 264-283, 285-290, 418-426 

9. Bran as a residue, usages 22 

10. Brandies, American 501-513 

11. Brewing beers, ales, porters, and malts 19-21, 

49, 50, 187-190, 293-301, 311-313, 351-396, 400-413, 415, 416, 455-160, 486-495 

12. Butter, and its adulterants 13, 15, 16, 

137-149, 151-155, 157-171, 198, 199, 202, 203, 206-209, 220-229, 230- 
235, 242-244, 250-252, 265, 266, 313-335, 344-350, 475-480, 495-498 

13. Butter preservatives 159-163, 169, 202, 203, 206, 220-235, 313-332 

14. Butter, "process" and "renovating" 475-480,497,498 

15. Butterine, substitute for butter, and laws governing same 137-155, 

157-171, 198, 199, 202, 203, 206-209, 220-235, 313-350 

649 



650 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 

c. 

Page. 

1. Candies and confectionery 30,31,70,302-311 

2. Carbonated wines, ' ' champagnes, ' ' native and imported 569-579 

3. Cayenne pepper 19 

J. Cereal foods 261-264,362-367 

5. Champagnes, American, naturally fermented, in bottles... 501-513-518-520-525 

6. Cheese, "filled" 14,15,64,65 

7. Cinnamon 18, 19, 70-73 

8. Cloves 19,71 

9. Coffees 17, 18, 48, 49, 68, 69, 70, 73-78, 205, 428-431, 499, 500 

10. Colorings in foods and liquids 33, 

41, 42, 43, 137-146, 189-195, 198, 199„202, 203, 206-209, 460-465, 498-500 

11. Condiments, general 17 

12. Copper, salts 42,43 

13. Cordials 427 

14. Corn oil 22 

15. Cotton-seed oil and stearin 15, 261-264, 362-367 

1 (^ llyf^fiTn Or tiM.T*i(JiT* i^ 

'3>V46,'4>V67,76,'79,'86,"l66-l69,'l\"7,'266,'265,"266,"232,'236^ 

17. Cream of tartar, high purity of refined product 1 19, 

37, 46, 67-70, 79, 86, 106-109, 117, 200, 205 
. 18. Cream of tartar, product of grapes foimd in all fruits 582-589, 590-601 

19. Cream of tartar substitutes proved by analysis "C. T. S." (cream of 

tartar substitute) simply alum adulterant 582-589, 590-601 

20. Cream of tartar in baking powders. . 27, 37, 46, 67, 70, 87, 88, 89, 102, 106-133, 109, 

197, 200, 205, 206, 230, 232, 236, 239, 291, 292, 293, 549-556, 582-589, 590-601 

D. 

1. Dairy products 13 

2. Distilling wines, brandies, and liquors 52-58, 427 

3. Drugs 66-73,190-195,433 

E. 

1 . Essences in liquors 52-58, 427, 460-465 

2. Extracts, malt 432,433 



1. Fish • 40 

2. Flour, "mixed" and adulterated 1-15, 26, 27, 58-60 

22. Flour, tremendous increase in sales in Europe, and restored confidence 

since enactment of pure-flour law 1-1 1 

3. Flourine 21, 137 

4. Foods, cereal 58-60 

5. Foods, general 433-439 

6. Food importations 34, 462-367 

7. Fruits, imported 473-475 

8. Foods, infants 497 

9. Food preservatives 33-34 

10. Formaldehyde 13,171-185, 186 

11. Fraudulent adulterations , 13 

12. Frauds, labeling 40,41,467-473,474,475 

13. Frauds upon revenue by refilling imported bottles and imitating foreign 

labels 467-475 

14. " Freezem " - 1 71-185 

15. " Freezeine" 149, 171-185 

16. Fruits, pickled 25 

G. 

1. Gas, carbonic acid, native and imported 573-576 

2. General frauds , 12—43 

3. Gelatin 22-23 

4. Germ oil 22 

5. Ginger 19 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 651 

Page. 

6. Glucose 19-21,209-216 

7. Government action in re the adoption of pure-food laws and restrictions 

of adulterations 34-39, 47, 50-52, 58, 59-63, 79, 97, 111, 136, 187, 188, 

189, 206, 207, 215, 217, 220, 233, 236, 299, 300, 301, 306, 311-313, 320, 355, 
374,416,427, 438,448-455, 459,460,467,470-475,480,482, 483, 486,492-496, 
499, 508, 513, 517, 524-531, 548-556, 579-583-589, 601-604, 613-617 

8. Grape sugar 20 

9. Ground clav 135 

10: Gypsum ..". 32 

H. 

1. Honev 14-16, 209-216, 217-220, 235, 236 

2. Hops'- 19, 20, 21 

3. Horse-radish 156, 157 

I, 

1. Imported foods sold in United States; sale of same prohibited in Eu- 
rope 52, 53 



1. Jellies 22, 23, 79, 98, 99, 197, 198, 204 

2. Jellies, coloring 101-102,198,204 



1. Labeling 35, 37-41, 45, 46, 47, 62, 63, 473-475, 547 

2. Labels, counterfeiting 396-398, 399, 400, 413, 414, 460-465, 467-475, 547 

3. Lard, "mixed" 15,16 

4. Laws, foreign, relating to food products 34, 35 

5. Lead poisoning through syphons 238 

6. Linseed oil 22 

7. Liqeurs, distilling 427,460-465 

8. Liqors, "ageing," "blending," and "coloring " 53-58,460-465 

9. Liquor, sfrauds, etc 53-58,460-465 

M. 

1. Malt 19 

2. Malt extracts 432,433 

3. Maple sirup 29, 89-97 

4. Meats. 39, 40, 201, 253-255 

5. Milk 13, 64, 65, 439-444, 497, 498 

6. Milk, condensed, skimmed, and defective 64, 65, 439-444, 497 

7. Mineraline 32, 135 

8. Mixed tiour 1-11, 133, 135 

9. Molasses 29, 89-96 

10. Mustard, ground 17, 19, 497 

O.' 

1. Oleomargarine 13-16, 137-149, 151-155, 157-167, 

168-171, 198, 199, 202, 203, 206-209, 220-235, 313-325, 326-350 

2. Olive oils 16,484-448,484-486,496 



1. Pasteurizing process 293-301, 311-313, 351-361, 367-396, 400-413, 426 

2. Peppers 18,19,497 

3. Pickles 155,156,157 

4. Poisons 420, 421 

5. Porter and ale 416, 417, 543-547 

6. Preservatives, embracing one hundred and twenty-seven subjects 34, 41-45, 

168-170, 187-195, 202-209, 235, 239-242, 266-269,281-283, 285-290, 418-426 

7. Preserves 77-98, 99 



652 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 

Page. 

8. Ptomaine poisoning 284, 285 

9. Pure beers 311-313, 351-361, 367-374, 385-396, 455-460 

10. Pure-food law, national enactment, advocates of 34-39,42, 45, 

46, 50, 51, 52, 58-63, 79, 97, 111, 187, 188, 189, 206, 207, 215, 217, 220, 
233, 236, 299-301, 306, 311-313, 320, 355, 374, 416, 418-426, 427, 432, 438, 
448-455, 459, 460, 467, 470-475, 476-480, 482, 483, 486, 492-496, 499,508, 
513, 517, 520, 524, 525-531, 548-556, 579-583, 584-589, 601-604, 613-617 

R. 

1. Revenue stamping, foreign method 35 

2. Rosaline for coloring 149 



1. Saccharin 53 

2. Salicylic acid 47, 48, 281-283 

3. Sirups ■- 28, 89-97, 238, 239, 498 

4. Spices 17, 18, 19, 66-73, 156, 157 

5. Starch 21 

6. Stout, imported 543-547 

7. Sugars 30,428-431,465-467 

8. Sugars, maple 29, 237 

9. Sirups, soda-water 498 



1. Tea 498, 499 

2. Tea, "facing" and weighting 499 

3. Terra alba 31, 32 

V. 
1. Vinegars 24, 25, 233, 234 

W. 

1. Waters, mineral and carbonated 238, 432, 433 

2. Wines 40,41 

3. Wines, ' ' blending, " " ageing, " " coloring, ' ' frauds, etc 53-58 

4. Wines, champagnes, American, pure, naturally fermented 501-508, 

508-513, 513-518, 518-520, 521-525, 598-601 

5. Wines, champagnes, artificially carbonated 569-579 

6. Wines, American champagnes, pure American champagnes carbonated, 

and imported champagnes. Result of test and analyses made by 
Prof. H. W. Wiley, Chief Chemist Department Agriculture United 
States, and by Duncan B. Harrison, Sergeant-at-Arms of Committee — 
Supplementary pages 

7. Wines, still American 501-508, 508-513, 513-518, 518-520, 521-525 

8. Wines, Italian 444-448 

9. Wines, champagnes, French 598-601 

Z. 
1. Zinc salts 42 



RECAPITULATION. 



COMMITTEE ON iMANUFACTURES. 

WILLIAM E. MASON, of Illinois, Chairman. 
GEORGE P. WETMORE, of Rhode Island. 
NATHAN B. SCOTT, of West Virginia. 
ADDISON G. FOSTER, of Washington. 
WILLIAM A. HARRIS, of Kansas. 
ALEXANDER S. CLAY, of Georgia. 
JOHN L. McLAURIN, of South Carolina. 



MAKING CERTAIN INVESTIGATIONS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF SENATE RESOLUTION 447, 
AND RESOLUTION OF MARCH 3, 1899, 



Number of sittings held : 37 

Number of days of sittings 51 

Cities in which testimonies were taken 3 

New York City, N. Y. ; Chicago, 111. ; Washington, D. C. 

Niimber of subjects and adulterations examined 677 

States visited by committee's representative for purpose of inspection of manu- 
factories, purchase of samples of foods in open market for chemical 

analysis 7 

Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, 
Wisconsin. 
Number of cifies visited by committee's representative for purpose of inspection 
of manufactories and purchase of samples of foods in open market for chem- 
ical analysis 19 

Illinois 1 

Chicago. 

Maryland 1 

Baltimore. 

Missouri 1 

St. Louis. 

New Jersey 3 

Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark. 

New York • 9 

Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Hudson, New York City, Rochester, 
Syracuse, Staten Island, Troy. 

Pennsylvania 3 

Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Scran ton. 

Wisconsin 1 

Milwaukee. 
Number of manufactories, warehouses, markets, stores, breweries, and distil- 
leries visited by committee's representative 241 

Manufactories '. 39 

Warehouses 11 

Markets 12 

Stores 81 

Breweries 92 

Distilleries 6 

653 



654 RECAPITULATIOISr. 

Number of samples of foods purchased by committee's representative in open 
market and turned over to the Department of Agriculture for analysis by 

Chief Chemist H. W. Wiley and assistants 438 

Consisting of — 

Ales, American and imported. 

Baking powders (tartaric acid and alum) . 

Beers, American and imported. 

Canned fish. 

Canned meats. 

Catsups, American and imported. 

Champagnes, American and imported and carbonated. 

Coffees. " 

Condiments, American and imported. 

Confectionery. 

Cream of tartars. 

Cream-of-tartar substitutes (C. T. S. or alum) . 

Extracts. 

Glucose. 

Honey. 

Jellies. 

Maple sirups and sugars. 

Molasses. 

Pates. 

Pickles. 

Porters. 

Preserves. 

Sauces. 

Sirups. 

Spices. 

Sugars. 

Teas. 

Wines, American and imported. 

Number of witnesses examined 196 

Classified as follows: 

Appraisers of customs 2 

Beehivers 1 

Brewers 11 

Brew masters 4 

Bottlers 2 

Carlionated wine producers 2 

Champagne producers 5 

Chemists 3 

Chief chemists 1 

Commissioners of States 1 

Commissioners and chemists State departments of agriculture 5 

Commission merchants 2 

Distillers 1 

Druggists 2 

Editors 9 

Experts on food products 6 

Health officers 4 

Importers 4 ^ 

Liquor dealers 2 

Manufacturers 26 

Merchants 7 

Millers 3 

Physicians 8 

Presidents of companies 12 

Presidents of associations 2 

Produce dealers 1 

Professors and analytical chemists 21 

Professors of colleges, institutions, hospitals, and universities 20 

Professors of United States Government departments 4 

Professors of State government departments 2 

Refiners 2 

Revenue agents 1 

Salesmen 3 



RECAPITULATION. ()55 

Number of witnesses examined — Continued. 
Classified as follows — Continued. 

Secretaries of companies and associations 5 

Specialists on food products - 1 

Surgeons. 2 

Surgeon-General of Army and assistants 2 

Surgeons of Army 1 

Surgeon-General of Navy 1 

Surgeons of Navy 3 

Surgeon-General of Marine Corps 1 

Surgeons of Marine Corps 1 

Foreign communications and repc^rts 43 

Agents 2 

Brewers 2 

Chemists 2 

Merchants 3-4 

Professors 2 

Presidents of chambers of commerce 1 

Total number of pages of testimony taken 641 

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